


Let Me Come Home (Or: Settling Down in Pieces, Forming a Whole)

by ShowMeAHero



Series: Lightning in a Bottle [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Babies, Body Image, Candlenights, Childbirth, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Family, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, M/M, Praise Kink, Pregnancy, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Trans Character, Unplanned Pregnancy, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 17:39:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 48,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15248451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShowMeAHero/pseuds/ShowMeAHero
Summary: “He’s not dying,” Kravitz tells him. “I’d know.”“Well, that’s reassuring,” Magnus replies. “Do you know when we’re all supposed to die?”“I should, but yours are always changing,” Kravitz says. “It depends on the day. Sometimes—”“I’m pregnant,” Taako blurts out. Kravitz’s and Magnus’ heads snap towards him at the same time.(Or: Taako, Magnus, and Kravitz make a mistake, work their lives into place a little backwards, and somehow slot themselves into a family just in time to actually become one.)





	1. Prologue: Month Zero

**Author's Note:**

> I finished the Balance arc of _The Adventure Zone_ and immediately wrote this. It's already all completely written, but I'm gonna update it a chapter at a time instead of posting it all at once, because it ended up obscenely long, way longer than I ever anticipated it being. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it — I know it's incredibly niche, but sometimes, you gotta just do something for yourself, and just let whoever reads it, read it.
> 
> The title was taken in chunks from ["Home"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHEOF_rcND8) by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and also ["Home"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoRkntoHkIE) by Phillip Phillips.

After Taako and Kravitz’s first date at the Chug N Squeeze, they have a second date. Then a third. Then, Taako goes to Magnus about it all.

“I really like him,” Taako says, as soon as he arrives in Magnus’ bedroom doorway. Magnus looks up at him, then turns around, like he’s expecting someone to be standing behind him. He glances back at Taako, one eyebrow raised.

“Who?” Magnus asks, and Taako shuts Magnus’ door behind him and leans against it, scrubbing his hands over his face.

 _“Kravitz,”_ Taako tells him. He’s already told Magnus about their first date, which is when Magnus did all his hemming and hawing about how terrible an idea it was to ask Death not to kill them over wine on a _pottery date,_ which is advice that Taako’s still glad he didn’t listen to. Magnus furrows his brow, scrunches up his nose. Taako refuses to find it adorable.

“Really?” Magnus asks. “He’s… dead, though.”

“We’ve all died before,” Taako says. “Or do you not remember Refuge and—”

“I remember Refuge,” Magnus interrupts him, before he can say much more. Taako remembers, too; it’s hard to forget dying that brutally, _that_ many times. They stare at each other for a beat. “You _really_ like him?”

“I _really_ do,” Taako says. “But it doesn’t mean I don’t really like _you.”_

“I know,” Magnus says, because he does. They’ve already worked it out; Magnus still loves Julia and he also loves Taako, and Taako loves Magnus and he also _really likes_ Kravitz, could learn to love Kravitz, and he’d asked if he could give it a shot, and Magnus had given him the go-ahead. He’d said he couldn’t say no, not when he was still half-in love, half-married, half-everything with Julia, himself.

Anyways, they’d talked it out. Taako dates Magnus and Kravitz. Kravitz was beyond cool with it; in fact, when Taako and Magnus had sat him down after the second date and told him everything, he’d looked between the two of them and said, _“Well, that’s more than acceptable. Don't scare me like that, I thought this was going to be something bad.”_

Magnus seemed to trust Kravitz, as much as he could. Now, he was learning to trust him with Taako. Taako was still getting used to people giving a shit about who he was around in the first place.

“I love you,” Magnus says. Taako pushes away from the door and Magnus recognizes the look on his face, sets his wood carving tools aside and spreads his legs and lets Taako climb into his lap. Taako presses his face into Magnus’ throat, into the juncture where his neck and his shoulder meet, and sighs.

“Same,” Taako murmurs against his skin. He lifts his head and pushes their lips together, groaning hungrily into Magnus’ mouth once he gets it open. He frames Magnus’ face with his hands, grabs either side of his head to hold him in place while he kisses him like he wants to devour him. Magnus gives as good as he gets, big hands clamped firmly around Taako’s waist, keeping him in his lap. Taako chances a roll of his hips, and Magnus moans, a sharp and sudden sound.

“Wanna do this?” Taako asks, because he always wants to make sure, and Magnus nods, so Taako shuffles them around and shoves him backwards so he’s flat on his back on the bed. He sets to work, stripping Magnus of his tight shirt, of his rough pants, of his undergarments and socks and soon he’s naked under him. Taako half-stands on the mattress to take his panties off, but then he falls back down over Magnus, skirt and crop top still on, and grinds down over Magnus’ dick. Magnus tosses his head back, digs it into his own pillow, and Taako does it again.

“You’re a good-looking guy,” Taako says, reaching down and picking up one of Magnus’ hands. He spreads his own soft hands over Magnus’ fingers, spreading them apart, enjoying the contrast of his light-blue skin against Magnus’ dark tan. He guides Magnus’ hand down to his clit. “Put it to use.”

Magnus does as he’s asked, half-sitting up to get his thumb on Taako’s clit and one finger past his folds, inside of him, so Taako sighs and lets his head fall back. Long, silvery-blonde ringlets of hair puddle on Magnus’ legs when he does it. Magnus reaches up, twines his free hand in Taako’s hair and pulls him forward, and Taako groans as he does. Magnus lets him go and strokes up over his face, over his lips, his cheekbones. He traces up one ear, then tangles his fingers in his hair again, pulling him down close enough to kiss.

Magnus always kisses like he's gonna die tomorrow, every time. It drives Taako _wild,_ and that combined with the steady pressure circling his clit and the second finger slipping inside of him is enough for him to reach between their bodies, to stroke sharply _up_ on Magnus’ cock and to say, “Are you ready?”

Magnus nods frantically, grinning at him like it’s Candlenights and he just got an awesome present, and Taako slides down in one fluid movement, hungry for it. He _has_ to, in response to an expression like the one Magnus has on his face, all pure golden-retriever joy. Magnus’ smile half-falls away in favor of a cut-off sound, involuntary, that he makes a second time when Taako moves. He leans over Magnus, letting his elbow fall down next to Magnus’ head, the other one lying alongside his face, thumb under his eye.

“You’re so good for me,” Taako tells him, softly, because this is what Magnus _likes,_ and Taako will go to surprising lengths to give Magnus what he likes, lately. _“So_ good. Show me how good you are.”

Magnus opens his eyes to look at him, all blown honey-golden eyes, huge black pupils. He reaches down between them again and gets his hand on Taako, on his clit, and moves out of rhythm, apparently too stimulated to keep his movements consistent. His other hand finds its way to Taako’s waist, and he holds him bruisingly tight there, rough fingers on soft blue skin. The first time he’d done that and seen the bruises the next morning, he had apologized to Taako for half an hour, until Taako finally snapped and told him he _liked it, you big dumb idiot,_ and Magnus had stared at him before giving him a matching set of finger-bruises on his other hip.

Taako rides Magnus for all he’s worth, and Magnus tries to match his pace, but he comes first, before Taako does. He fills Taako, deep, deep inside of him, then his hand stills; Taako reaches down between them to finish it, but Magnus comes back to himself before he can. He shifts them, and Taako slides off, and Magnus ducks his head and gets his mouth over Taako’s clit, and it’s over right after it starts. Taako tangles his hand in Magnus’ hair and holds him in place there while he crests the wave, then rides it, finally relaxing. He looks at Magnus as he lifts his head and wipes his mouth.

“I do love you,” Taako says, too sex-stupid to filter himself. Magnus grins at him, then reaches down for him, pulling him up and arranging him half-over his chest, holding him tight.

“Thank you,” Magnus says, because Magnus somehow _always_ knows the right thing to say, and Taako shuts his eyes and snuffles half a response and eventually gets up to clean himself off.

* * *

Taako goes on a fourth date with Kravitz before they get their next assignment from Lucretia. This time, it’s a moonlit picnic, so when it’s over, it’s late. Taako leans in the doorway of the suite he shares with Merle and Magnus and tries to look as enticing as possible. Based off the look on Kravitz’s human face, it’s pretty much working, but he still also looks hesitant to come in.

“Do you want to do this?” Taako asks, finally, because they’ve been standing there flirting for twenty minutes, but neither of them has moved to go inside. Kravitz’s eyes dart past him into the empty, dark common room. “It’s okay if you don’t.”

“I just—” Kravitz glances over his shoulder, like he thinks they’re being followed, then leans in. “I know… you and Magnus and I worked this all out. But I… just wanted to be sure. That it was okay.”

Taako raises a perfect eyebrow at him, then leans further in, until they’re a breath away. He smooths his hands over Kravitz’s chest, feeling the soft material of his shirt under his palms. He keeps his hands there, where he would normally feel a heartbeat on a living person, and finds that he’s not largely unsettled that it’s not there, just because it’s _Kravitz._

“Wanna know something?” Taako asks. Kravitz nods, because, again, it’s _Kravitz._ He wants to know _everything,_ all the time, especially if it has to do with Taako, and Taako’s not used to that just yet. “Magnus and I talked about how much I like you yesterday.”

“Really?” Kravitz asks. “Did you? What’d you say?”

“Not much,” Taako says. “Just that I really like you, and he reminded me that you’re dead, and I said, well, yeah, we’ve _all_ died, and he—”

“Taako,” Kravitz interrupts, because he’s already getting used to how Taako can lose his train of thought pretty easily. It makes Taako a little hungrier.

“Well, then we fucked,” Taako says, because he’s _Taako,_ and that’s how he says things like that. Kravitz blinks down at him.

“You… fucked,” Kravitz repeats. Taako smiles at him, sliding his hands down a little bit further until they’re planted against Kravitz’s stomach, and he leans in until their lips are just _nearly_ touching.

“Yeah,” Taako confirms. “We did. Because we were talking about _you_ and things escalated.” Taako presses a quick kiss to Kravitz’s lips. “What do you think?”

“I…” Kravitz says, then stops. He looks down, then reaches up, wrapping his hands around Taako’s wrists. Taako feels a little thrill go through him, and then Kravitz presses his cold lips to Taako’s forehead.

“What’s that mean, bone boy?” Taako asks softly. Kravitz exhales shakily.

“I’m obsessed with you,” Kravitz says, before dipping his head down to catch Taako’s lips again. He’s hungry, Taako can tell, and he leads him backwards without breaking the kiss. Kravitz does pull away from the kiss, just for a second, to nudge the front door shut behind them. Taako grabs him by the hand.

“You wanna do this?” he asks again, and this time Kravitz smiles at him.

“Yes,” he replies, and Taako all but drags him through the common room, through the kitchen, down the hallway to his bedroom. Kravitz is close behind him the whole time, and when he gets his door shut behind them and his bedroom light on, Kravitz is already crowding him up against his door.

“Impatient?” Taako asks, but Kravitz is already busy, biting into Taako’s throat. “Oh, _man.”_

“Too much?” Kravitz asks into his skin. Taako frantically shakes his head.

“Hell no,” Taako tells him. “Keep going.”

Kravitz reaches down and grabs handfuls of Taako’s thighs, lifting him up so Taako can wrap his legs around his waist, and that gets Taako _going,_ and he’s already wet, which Kravitz seems to realize pretty quickly.

“And you’re calling _me_ impatient,” Kravitz teases, but he’s distracted, and there’s no real heat to it, because he’s focused on shimmying his pants down and getting Taako’s panties out of the way all at once, which is nearly impossible. It’s rushed and electric and Taako’s melting, because it’s _perfect._

“Lemme help,” Taako says, and he vanishes his own underwear, and Kravitz honest-to-gods _laughs._ Taako falls a little bit in love with him for hearing it, but he doesn’t have much time to dwell on the feeling, because Kravitz has finally gotten himself free of his pants and he’s lining himself up with Taako’s entrance.

“Are you okay?” Kravitz asks. “Are you ready? Should I—”

“Don’t overthink it,” Taako tells him. “Go ahead. Go slow.”

Kravitz listens, goes slow, lets Taako slide down onto him at his own pace, freezing-cold hands holding him up at his thighs. Taako’s head falls back to bang against the wall once he’s fully seated, once Kravitz is deep inside of him, and he lets out a shuddering breath. Kravitz’s head comes forward to mouth at Taako’s jutting collarbone, and he’s cold inside of him but he’s warming up, and Taako shifts a little.

“Time to move, babe,” Taako says, and Kravitz _does,_ all at once, pulling out a little just to slam back in, and Taako makes an involuntary, happy, high-pitched noise at it. Kravitz seems to decide he wants to pursue that sound again, because he pounds Taako into the door, pressing him close. Taako lets his head fall forward, their foreheads pressing together, his hair falling between them. Kravitz buries himself in Taako, over and over, and their angle and ferocity sends Taako over the edge before Kravitz. When Taako groans, then sighs, letting the feelings crash through him, it seems like it takes Kravitz a second to realize what’s happened. Once he does, though, he redoubles his efforts, crowding into all of Taako’s empty spaces before he’s coming inside of him, teeth in Taako’s throat, trying to muffle his own sounds with Taako’s skin.

“Holy shit,” Taako says, once it’s over. Kravitz carefully, _very_ carefully, lifts him up and off of his dick, then gingerly carries him to his bed, where he pauses.

“Your room is a fucking mess,” he says, matter-of-fact, and Taako is startled into laughing.

“Got that right, bone daddy,” Taako says. He lifts a hand and uses magic to throw everything on his bed to the floor. Kravitz lays him down carefully, like he’s fragile, or like he’s precious, which gives Taako a _lot_ of weird new feelings. Kravitz stands there for a second before Taako beckons him forward.

“Got anyplace better to be?” Taako asks, and Kravitz shakes his head before climbing into the bed behind Taako and holding him there, his front to Taako’s back.

“If the Raven Queen calls, I have to go to her,” Kravitz tells him, as he takes off his Stone of Far Speech and places it on Taako’s crowded bedside table.

“Gotcha,” Taako says. He burrows into Kravitz’s embrace, lets himself enjoy it while he doesn’t feel self-conscious about it yet. “The Director said something about giving us an assignment tomorrow, so I might be gone for a little bit. Don’t worry about it, though, we’re getting good at this shit. It shouldn’t take us too long.”

“I hope not,” Kravitz says, into Taako’s hair, at the crown of his head. “Is it dangerous?”

“Are they ever?” Taako asks. Kravitz doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Then:

“Yes,” Kravitz replies. “I— Yes, what kind of a question is that, of course they are, or else we’d never have met.”

“Then good thing they are,” Taako says, nonsensical, and Kravitz sighs against him, and Taako enjoys the moment for a long, long while.


	2. Month One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako has a realization. Kravitz clears some things up. Magnus gets caught off guard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're getting used to my excessive use of italics, because it only gets worse and worse the further we go.

After everything — Wonderland, and the memories of their stolen century with the IPRE, and defeating the Hunger, after all of it — Taako is overwhelmed.

How the fuck could he _not_ be? He got a century’s worth of memories back, he lost and gained his sister all over again, everyone knows _all_ of his business, and he’s feeling a bit like a stitched-together person.

Even more, he has Magnus back, the Magnus that he knew and the Magnus he knows now combining into one ultra-Magnus who has half of his affection. And after all _that,_ Kravitz saw _everything,_ along with everyone else in existence, and he still told Taako that he loves him, he _loves him,_ and it’s so much.

After everything — celebrations, and reminiscing, and pointedly ignoring Lucretia, all of it — Taako sits with Magnus and Kravitz in his bedroom, on his bed, in between the two of them. The mess he left on the floor before he left for Wonderland is still there, and he catches Kravitz looking at it, as well, and he wonders if he’s remembering, too. Back when things felt a little more normal.

“Are you still comfortable with me being here?” Kravitz finally asks, breaking the silence. Taako and Magnus look up at him at the same time.

“Of course we are,” Magnus says, at the same time Taako says, “Why the hell wouldn’t I be?”

“Because— Well. All of—” Kravitz waves his hand in the general area of Taako and Magnus. “I don’t want to… interfere. With any of it.”

“Buddy, I wasn’t lying before,” Taako says, before Magnus can say anything. “I love you. Really. I _love_ you.”

“He doesn’t say that easy,” Magnus chimes in. Taako jerks a thumb in his direction.

“He’s right, I don’t,” Taako tells him. “I’m not going anywhere if you’re not.”

“Just because we got our memories back doesn’t mean anything has to change,” Magnus says. “Well, like, in this regard. Like, I still had Julia. That didn’t change. We still feel the way we feel if you do.”

“I do,” Kravitz tells them both, hurriedly. Taako relaxes a little bit. Magnus picks up a big hand and wraps it around the back of Taako’s neck, digging in like he knows Taako likes. Kravitz’s cold hand reaches over, slowly, and wraps around Taako’s bare ankle.

“We’re gonna be okay,” Magnus says. “Really.”

Taako smiles at him, then jolts forward and, unexpectedly and suddenly, vomits onto the floor. Kravitz rushes to grab up his hair and hold it up out of his face while Magnus just helpfully exclaims, “Holy _shit,_ dude!”

“Thanks, homie,” Taako says, still bent in half. Kravitz digs through the clutter on Taako’s bedside table for a hair elastic and ties his hair up into a loose bun at the back of his head for him, then eases him up to sit up and lean against him. Taako presses his cheek to Kravitz’s cold throat, exhaling shakily.

“What the fuck was that?” Magnus asks, already scooting off the bed and looking for something to clean with. Taako reaches out and waves his hand, cleans it up with magic, then sneaks his hand under Kravitz’s shirt to press to his cool skin.

“Been a long day,” Taako says. “I’ll meditate.”

Magnus eyes him for a second, then says, “Cool,” and starts stripping his clothes off. Kravitz stares at him, and eventually Magnus looks up at him. “Oh,” he says, stopping.

“No, that’s— fine,” Kravitz says, and Taako groans.

“Don’t be weird,” Taako begs them. “Please. I’m tired.”

He shuts his eyes, but he can still feel Magnus and Kravitz staring at each other, probably doing some weird intense conversation with their facial expressions. Eventually, he hears Magnus shucking off the rest of his clothes, then climbing back onto the bed. Kravitz gingerly hands him over to Magnus’ lap, and Magnus’ big hands come around to rub his back.

“How you feelin’?” Magnus asks. Taako feels the weight shift on the bed as Kravitz gets up, presumably to change his clothes.

“Abruptly shitty,” Taako tells him. Magnus takes the elastic out of his hair and starts working the tangles out of his hair with his fingers. “Thanks, bubbeleh.”

“Sure thing,” Magnus says. Kravitz’s weight comes back onto the mattress, and Magnus’ hands are replaced with his. Cool, deft fingers start plaiting his hair, and he relaxes more fully against Magnus’ chest.

“Try meditating,” Kravitz tells him, and Taako’s already halfway there.

* * *

The next day, Taako slips out from in between Kravitz and Magnus on the bed. They don’t seem to wake up from the space he left behind, even though Kravitz doesn’t usually even sleep. Taako chalks it up to the stress from the last however-long they’ve all been dealing with this shit, then heads into the kitchen, where he sits on the floor with his back pressed up against the counter for a long time. Eventually, though, Merle walks in, looks down at Taako, and stares at him for a little bit.

Merle sighs.

“What happened?” he asks. Taako scowls at him.

“What makes you think something happened?” Taako demands. “I just got a hundred years of memories back and lost my sister and then had to fight the stupid Hunger all over again. Isn’t that enough?”

“You were fine last night,” Merle points out. “You don’t gotta tell me if you don’t want to.”

Taako stares hard at him, ferocious, then looks away. Eventually, the tension starts leaking out of his shoulders, and he looks down at his hands where they’re pressed against his thighs. He lifts one shoulder in a half-shrug, and Merle comes and sits beside him. Taako had meditated for hours the night before, and had searched deep within himself, and come up, gasping for air, nearly at the right conclusion. He keeps looking down at his hands.

“You got… kids, right?” Taako asks. He doesn’t look at Merle, but he feels him move as he nods.

“Yeah, Mavis and Mookie,” Merle tells him.

“Are they kids or step-kids?” Taako asks. Merle takes a second.

“Mavis is my step-daughter,” Merle says, “but it doesn’t feel like that. She feels like my daughter.”

“That’s not why I—” Taako starts to say, then stops. “I just… When your wife, or whatever—”

“Hekuba,” Merle supplies. Taako glances at him, brow furrowed. “Sorry, go ahead.”

“When _Hekuba,”_ Taako amends, “was… when she got… How did…” Taako groans in frustration and lets his head fall back against the counter. Merle’s face appears in his line of vision.

“You didn’t,” Merle says, looking as shell-shocked as Taako had felt when he’d woken up from his meditation, how he still feels deep inside his chest. _“Taako._ With _who.”_

“You fucking serious, old man?” Taako replies, as he realizes, _holy shit,_ it could be Magnus _or_ Kravitz, he has _no fucking idea._ Taako’s heart falls nauseatingly into his stomach. He turns to Merle. “Don’t you say a goddamn _word,_ do you hear me?”

“No problem, little buddy,” Merle says, and Taako lets the lightly insulting nickname slide in favor of slumping back against the cabinet, rubbing his hands into his face roughly. “As for your… question, there’s a trick I can show you. To check.”

“Does it work?” Taako asks. Merle’s already standing up and starting to root through the fridge.

“No, I’m just yanking your chain,” Merle says, taking out his jug of blue milk. “Of course it works, dipshit, it worked with Hekuba and it’ll work with you.” He pulls out a bunch more of the little jars he keeps on his shelf, labeled in Dwarvish, then brings them all over to the low coffee table in the living room. Taako follows, curls up on the sofa with his legs folded up to his chest and his arms around his shins, watching Merle as he goes. Merle vanishes back down the hallway into his room, then comes back with a little potted plant. He lightly slices off a couple of leaves with his knife and drops them into the bowl he’d brought over, then pours part of each jug and jar into the bowl after it.

“What do we do with this?” Taako asks, watching Merle stir all the ingredients together with the back end of a fork he found on the table. Merle sniffs the bowl, then hands it to Taako.

“Drink it,” Merle orders him. Taako stares at him.

“Are you fucking _insane?”_ Taako demands. Merle shoves the bowl into his hands. Taako lifts it up and tentatively smells it. “Holy shit, Merle, this smells like garbage.”

“Drink it,” Merle repeats, twisting the caps back onto the jars. Taako looks down at the bowl, then back at Merle. Merle motions to the bowl, waiting expectantly. Taako hesitantly lifts the bowl to his mouth and drinks it, scrunching up his face like he can avoid the taste as he does so. Once he’s drank it, he looks down at Merle.

“Now what?” Taako asks. Merle hops up beside him on the sofa.

“Wait a sec,” Merle tells him. Taako glares at him, then his stomach lurches and he ducks his head down, vomiting into the bowl. Merle takes the bowl back and looks into it.

“What the fuck is wrong with you,” Taako spits at him, wiping his hand across the back of his mouth. Merle waves him off, then shows him the bowl.

“Looks like you’re good,” Merle says. “Not pregnant. Congrats, bud.”

Taako looks at him, then down into the bowl. “Really?”

“Really,” Merle says. Taako keeps looking into the bowl before he slumps against the sofa back. He didn’t really— he hasn’t actually _lost_ anything, he reminds himself, if there was never anything _to_ lose, but he still somehow _feels_ like he’s lost something, and he’s distraught about it. He’s never considered the option before, but he kind of wanted it, in the moment where he thought he had it. He sighs.

“Well,” Taako says, then stops. “Well, that’s that on that, then. Thanks, I guess.”

“Just yankin’ your chain,” Merle says again, then points into the bowl. “You’re knocked up. Good work, kiddo.”

Taako stares at him from where he’s sank into the sofa cushions. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You didn’t seem sure about what you wanted,” Merle says. “I wanted you to know how you really feel about it.”

“Fuck you, old man,” Taako half-laughs, half-scolds, choking on the response. “That’s a _bold_ fucking move.”

“Paid off,” Merle says, before pointing into the bowl. “See that shape in there?” he asks. Taako glares at him a little longer, then looks into the bowl. “That’s the symbol of— uh, well… gestation? That’s the womb, right there—”

“I get it,” Taako interrupts him. “So… yes, then.”

“Yeah, ‘fraid so, kid,” Merle replies. He puts the bowl on the table, then sits quietly. Of course, it’s Merle, so that doesn’t last long. “So… Kravitz?”

“I don’t know,” Taako says, before he can manage to censor himself. Merle keeps staring at the side of his head; Taako plunks his face down into his hands.

“You cheated on Kravitz?” Merle asks. Taako drops his hands to glower at him.

“Of course I fucking didn’t, what kind of a person do you take me for?” Taako snaps at him. Merle raises his hands in surrender. “I just… We have an arrangement.”

“What, like, an open thing?” Merle asks.

“I don’t want to talk about this,” Taako says, standing up. “Thanks for… the bowl, I guess. I just… I’m gonna go meditate.”

“Lemme know if you need me for anything else,” Merle replies, hopping up as well. Just then, Kravitz appears in the kitchen, and Merle almost drops his potted plant.

“Hey, Magnus is still— Uhh,” Kravitz stops, when he sees Merle. Merle spins to Taako.

“You and Magnus are _still_ doing this?” Merle asks, incredulous.

“Merle, shut the _fuck up,”_ Taako hisses. He motions to Kravitz. “Go, go back, I’ll be right there.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Merle says, as Kravitz stands there, looking at them with complete bewilderment. “You didn’t—”

 _“Shut up,”_ Taako snarls. He turns back to Kravitz, then advances on him, catching him by the wrist and all but dragging him back to his bedroom. Magnus is still asleep — or, he was, before Taako shoved Kravitz in and slammed the door shut. Magnus sits up sleepily, eyes still closed, and turns his head in their direction, yawning.

“Whassup?” Magnus slurs, scrubbing his hand across his face. Taako pushes Kravitz over to the bed and forces him down with his hands on his shoulders. Kravitz stares up at him, looking just as baffled as he did in the hallway.

“Are you okay?” Kravitz asks, folding his hands in his lap. Magnus forces his eyes open and scoots to the edge of the bed to sit next to Kravitz, running his hand through his hair to push it out of his face.

“Y’alright, Taako?” Magnus asks. Taako stands in front of them, staring down at them, before he covers his eyes with his hands. He wishes he had had more time to think about the whole thing, but it’s all happening so quickly — and now Merle knows, and if _Merle_ knows, then he _has_ to tell Kravitz and Magnus, because they can’t not know while _Merle knows._

“I just—” Taako says, then exhales shakily, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Don’t be mad.”

“What’djya do?” Magnus asks. He’s more alert now, and when Taako drops his hand, he notices Magnus is a little flushed, like he’s nervous. Taako looks to Kravitz’s face instead, but he’s doing that staring thing he does when he’s trying not to look worried, but instead stares without blinking because he’s _definitely_ worried. Taako looks between their heads instead, then tips his head back and looks up at the ceiling.

“Taako?” Kravitz asks, softly. Taako keeps staring at the ceiling.

“I’m, uhh,” Taako says, then stops.

“Dying?” Magnus asks, at the same time Kravitz says, “Mad?”

“No,” Taako replies. Kravitz looks to Magnus.

“He’s not dying,” Kravitz tells him. “I’d know.”

“Well, that’s reassuring,” Magnus replies. “Do you know when we’re all supposed to die?”

“I should, but yours are always changing,” Kravitz says. “It depends on the day. Sometimes—”

“I’m pregnant,” Taako blurts out. Kravitz’s and Magnus’ heads snap towards him at the same time. There’s a moment of hard, hard silence.

“What—” Kravitz starts saying, then stops. Magnus gets up, crosses the room to Taako in one stride, and crushes Taako to his chest, hugging him tighter than he ever has in his entire life up until this point. Which is saying something, because it’s been over a hundred years of life.

“Taako,” Magnus says, into the top of Taako’s head, voice muffled by his hair. He keeps embracing him tightly, arms around his torso, and Taako tucks his face into Magnus’ chest. He lets his own arms drift up to hold onto Magnus, hands spreading over his broad back.

“How are you feeling?” Kravitz asks from behind Magnus. Taako shakes his head.

“I dunno,” Taako says into Magnus’ chest.

“Do you wanna—” Magnus starts to ask, then stops. Taako steps back, and Magnus drops his arms.

“Do you want to keep it?” Kravitz finishes the question. Taako looks at his face, and Kravitz is looking back at him, as impassive as ever, but he’s flushed and doing the not-blinking worried thing. Taako looks up at Magnus, whose face is redder than he’s ever seen it and who’s staring down at Taako, looking half-distraught and half-exhilarated.

On one side of things, Taako is _terrified._ He’s lost and gained time, family, reasons to live. He’s become a person he doesn’t always recognize in the mirror. He’s an accomplice to the murder of forty people. He’s not exactly a great guy. Besides, he’s been trying to open a school with Ren, and things are better than they’ve been in years, and who’s he to mess that all up?

On the other side of things, Taako’s already lost and regained his only family. He and Lup always talked about how they’d raise their children together someday. Now, he has the chance they always wanted, and he doesn’t know what to do with it. And, oh, God,  _Lup,_ he's going to have to tell  _Lup,_ he just got her back and now he's gonna drop this on her,  _hell._

On the third side — if there is one — Taako realizes, he _wants_ this. He didn’t know what he wanted, but when Merle faked him out— even though that was _fucking stupid—_ he realized he _did_ want this. He _does_ want this.

“Yeah,” Taako says, then looks away, because he feels his eyes getting wet and he has a reputation to maintain. A cold hand touches his chin and tips his face up, and he looks into Kravitz’s dark eyes.

“It’s okay to want this,” Kravitz tells him softly. “And it’s okay not to. But I think you do.”

Taako nods his head, then looks to Magnus. Kravitz kisses him on the cheek.

“Hey, oh, uhh—” Magnus says, then motions between himself and Kravitz. “Who, uhh…” He points at Taako’s abdomen. “Who planted it?”

“That’s an eloquent way of putting it,” Kravitz mutters. Taako looks away from their faces, turns his head out of Kravitz’s grip.

“I don’t know,” Taako says. Magnus claps Kravitz on the shoulder.

“Good on ya, buddy,” Magnus tells him. Taako glares at him.

“I don’t really care whose it is,” Taako replies. “If you do—”

“Hell no, I don’t,” Magnus says. “Doesn’t matter, still mine.”

 _“Ours,”_ Taako reminds him. Magnus waves him off.

“I’m gonna have a kid,” Magnus says. “That’s friggin’ _awesome.”_

“Are you okay?” Kravitz asks Taako. “You know I don’t mind whose it is, either, biologically. It’s all of ours. That’s why we’re in this arrangement in the first place. We’re a team.”

“Okay,” Taako replies. “I’m okay. I’m just—” He looks down, shrugs a little, then remembers who he is. He’s _Taako,_ what the fuck is he _doing?_ “I, uhh. You know how it is. You murder forty people, you never really expect to _create_ a life later on.”

“You didn’t murder forty people,” Magnus exclaims, at the same time Kravitz says, “We’ve been over this, Taako.”

“Still,” Taako says, and Magnus shakes his head, grabbing Taako by the shoulders.

“Remember how Kravitz looked at your, like, soul report card or whatever? And how Saz— Uhh, how you got that letter that said you’re all set! You’re not guilty! You didn’t do it!” Magnus reminds him. “You got the pardon and you’re all good. You didn’t do it.”

“You didn’t,” Kravitz agrees. “It’s okay to feel how you’re feeling—”

“— _Except_ that it’s not your fault,” Magnus interrupts. He and Kravitz share a look that Taako can’t identify, but he mildly appreciates that they have their own little face-language. He likes when they spend time together.

“You really want to do this?” Kravitz asks, when he and Magnus finish their micro-expression-conversation. He turns to Taako. “Are you sure?”

Taako looks at his face, and Kravitz looks happy. He looks to Magnus, and the guy looks absolutely psyched.

“Yeah,” Taako says. He lets Kravitz pull him in to hug him, his cold hand stroking through Taako’s hair. “Gonna have to hold off on the media circuit for the brand.”

“Yeah, probably,” Kravitz tells him. Taako keeps his face in Kravitz’s shoulder.

“Maybe after,” Taako says. Magnus hums a little sound, and when Taako tips his head to look at him, Magnus is frowning.

“When’d you, uhh,” Magnus starts, then stops. “When’d you get fucked up?”

“Knocked up,” Kravitz corrects. Taako shrugs.

“I’m guessing before we went to Wonderland.” He watches Magnus’ brows knit together as he thinks. “Why?”

“I just—” Magnus says, then starts over, “Before Wonderland?”

“Haven’t done anything after,” Taako tells him. Magnus stares at him, then suddenly his face breaks open, his eyes fill up with tears. “Whoa, kemosabe, what the fuck? What’s wrong?”

“Before Wonderland?” Magnus asks again. “I just— _Fuck,”_ Magnus says. “You were pregnant while we were there? You could’ve— You—”

Taako tries to quickly parse through what Magnus is trying to say, and comes up with— _Oh._ He’s thinking about Wonderland, when Taako got hit when that washing machine fell, when he got pinned to the ground, bleeding out on the floor. He’s probably thinking about when Taako was trying to help him fight the bear, and he’d fallen over and started vomiting blood, and Merle hadn’t been able to heal him and he’d—

Yeah, he’s probably thinking about that.

“You could’ve _died,”_ Magnus says. “The baby— _Fuck,_ Taako, they could’ve—”

“It’s okay, bubbeleh, we didn’t,” Taako reminds him. Kravitz passes him off to Magnus, and Magnus holds him even tighter than he did before, swaying back and forth with him a little, face buried in his hair. Taako can feel hot tears dripping onto the crown of his head. “It’s okay, bud. It’s alright.”

“You almost died,” Magnus says. “I thought you were gonna, and that was bad enough, and now—”

“I won’t let anything happen to them,” Kravitz tries to tell him, but Magnus is tangling his fingers in Taako’s hair and holding him close.

“You came into the Astral Plane to save me,” Magnus says, voice breaking halfway through. “What if something—”

 _“Nothing happened,”_ Taako repeats, pulling back to look up at Magnus. Magnus looks like he’s crying hard enough to pop a blood vessel in his eye. “If you’re gonna think about every time I’ve almost died, buddy, you’re gonna be pretty fucking busy. And, I mean, besides, I’ve watched you die how many times? It’s _fine.”_

“It’s not _fine,”_ Magnus says. Then, he groans, covering his face with his hands. “You got attacked by the fucking _rhino,_ and Lup’s explosion knocked you off your _feet,_ and when we were fighting John, I _watched_ you go down— Holy _shit,_ Taako, you could’ve died so many times when we were trying to defeat the Hunger, I can’t— I _can’t—”_

“Mango, buddy, calm down,” Taako says. He reaches up and puts his hands over Magnus’, pulls them away from his face. “Big guy, I’m _good._ I’m _so_ good. Nothing happened. I’m here. Kid’s here. We’re _fine,_ homie. Cross my heart.”

“You were just— _fighting._ Just in the fucking battle like nothing was fucking wrong,” Magnus continues. Taako frowns at him.

“We’ve done shit like that a hundred times,” Taako reminds him.

“It’s different now,” Kravitz adds on in agreement. Taako looks up at him. “It’s…” Kravitz says, motioning towards Taako’s abdomen. “A little extra. I guess.”

“The two of you are fucking insane,” Taako comments. Magnus keeps hugging him, and Kravitz appears next to him, pushing Taako’s hair back from his face, leaning in to press his forehead to Taako’s temple.

“Thank you,” Kravitz whispers. Magnus squeezes Taako, then opens his arms to include Kravitz in the hug.

“You guys are the _best,”_ Magnus exclaims heartily, still crying. “I fucking _love_ you guys. You know what? You know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna build us a _fucking house.”_

Kravitz exhales shakily, half a laugh. Taako buries his face in between them and lets them bookend him.


	3. Month Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lup makes a guess. Taako has a thought. Kravitz keeps a secret. Magnus builds a house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's an update schedule? I don't know her.

Magnus is in deep building their house, a big old thing made of wood and brick and stone that Kravitz helped with the layout of and Taako had final say over. It’s right nearby Taako’s Amazing School of Magic. It’s also down the street from Magnus’ new school for dogs, Hammer and Tails [A Dog’s School]. His Scottish Deerhound, Johann, is always underfoot. Taako acts like it’s a problem, but it’s not really.

Their house is built on the remains of Raven’s Roost, overlooking the ocean, just like Taako always wanted his house to be, ever since he was little. He spends a lot of time sitting at the edge of the deck Magnus just finished building, legs dangling over the edge into thin air, watching the water glisten in the sunlight. It’s calming.

According to Merle, who won’t stop visiting and also won’t stop reading books on elf anatomy and gestation and pregnancy and all that other bullshit, their baby’s the size of, like, a poppy seed or something — just super fucking small — if it’s following elf-rules. Which it might be, but probably _isn’t,_ because Magnus is a human and Kravitz is kind of a human, so the kid’s gotta be a half-elf, and then all bets are off.

Taako spends most of his time complaining, because his emotions are fucking stupid and he’s all over the place lately, moreso than usual. He’s sick all the time and he’s constantly tired and he’s stressed out and his brain’s always going haywire. Ren sends him home from the school more often than not just because he’s so on edge; he hasn’t told her about the baby yet, because he’s still nervous about it, but she probably knows something’s up.

“Hey,” Kravitz says from behind him. Taako hadn’t heard him rip through the planes of reality to come back to the house, but there he is when Taako turns around, skin knitting back over his face. He bends down to press a kiss to Taako’s upturned face before he sits behind him, spreading his legs and pulling Taako back against his chest. Taako sighs, resting his head back against Kravitz’s shoulder. The two of them watch the water for a bit.

“How’re you feeling?” Kravitz finally asks. Taako groans and splays back dramatically across Kravitz’s lap, and Kravitz laughs.

“I feel like shit constantly,” Taako says. “Why? Gonna fix it?”

“I can’t,” Kravitz says. “But you’ve got a visitor who might be able to.”

“Who the fuck—” Taako starts asking, craning his neck to look behind Kravitz, and Lup’s standing in the half-finished doorway. “Oh, hey, kid.”

“I’m the older one,” Lup reminds him. Taako slips away from Kravitz and lets Lup hug him.

“That’s literally never mattered to me,” Taako says, “because I’m taller so I’m older.”

“You’re taller because your heels are six inches high,” Lup points out. Taako waves her off, scoffing.

“What’re you doing here?” Taako asks. He can hear Magnus hammering away at something inside, Johann barking every time he does. Kravitz places a cool hand at the back of his neck, under his thick hair.

“Can’t I just visit?” Lup asks. She eyes Taako, then glances meaningfully up at Kravitz. Kravitz’s hand falls away from Taako’s skin.

“I, uhh,” Kravitz says, before taking a break to think. “I… have to help Magnus.”

“Never lifted a hammer in your life, buddy,” Taako calls after him as Kravitz abandons him to head into the unfinished house. He glances down at Lup. “What’ve you got for me?”

“You’re keeping a secret from me,” Lup says. Taako frowns at her, brow creasing. “I can tell. Kravitz is horrible with secrets. I can tell he’s keeping something from me and Barry and it’s gotta do with you, because he doesn’t know anyone else. Spill.”

“I don’t—” Taako starts saying, but then Lup’s pulling out her sad face, _damn_ her. Taako’s tried to build up an immunity to this expression for centuries, but he’s never quite succeeded.

“Can’t I help?” Lup asks. “I’m your big sister. I want to help you. If you’re having a hard time, there’s gotta be something I can do, right?”

“Don’t play the helpful older sibling card with me, I see right through you,” Taako reminds her. He sighs, then heads back over to the edge of the deck, resting his arms on the railing. “If I tell you, you can’t tell _anyone_ else. That’s including Barry. Got it?”

“Got it,” Lup agrees, bounding up to stand next to him. “What is it? Getting married?”

“Nope,” Taako replies, popping the ‘p’. “Close, though.”

“Already married? Eloped?” she asks. Taako shakes his head. She frowns, turning so she’s facing away from the water, leaning against the railing. She folds her arms across her chest. “Dying?”

“You people have to stop guessing that,” he says. _“No,_ I am not dying, I’m _dating_ Death Incarnate, he’s not gonna let me die anytime soon.”

“Well, what the fuck is it, then?” Lup asks. Taako glances at her, props his chin in his hand on the railing and looks up at her.

“Remember when we were kids, and we used to say we’d always keep our families together when we were older?” Taako tries to start. Lup jumps up.

“Oh, shit, can Barry and I move in with you guys?” Lup asks. It’s not what Taako was going for, but he feels a surge of _want_ at the suggestion.

“Uhh— that’s not what I meant, but, actually, I think maybe—” Taako stops himself. “I don’t know. I think I’d like that. I miss you guys.”

“We miss you, too,” Lup says. She strokes his hair back from his face. _“I_ miss you, Koko. It’s weird being apart.”

“Samesies,” Taako replies. “That wasn’t it, though.”

“Yes! Your secret,” Lup exclaims, as she remembers her quest. “Alright, you’re not married, you weren’t gonna ask us to move in, you want us to keep our f—” She stops mid-sentence and looks at him. Looks _hard_ at his face, then down at his abdomen, then back up. “No. Shut up. You are _not.”_

“Yup,” Taako says, and Lup dashes forward, picking him up and spinning him around. “Jesus fuck, you insane woman, what’re you doing?”

“My baby brother’s gonna have a baby,” Lup shouts, giddy, squeezing him tight before she puts him down. She moves her hands to his shoulders and keeps them there. “I’m definitely fucking moving in. Where the fuck is Magnus? _Magnus!”_ she bellows into the house. Taako sighs.

“What’s up?” Magnus asks, appearing behind them. Taako turns to look at him, and is abruptly thrilled by Magnus without a shirt, covered in sweat, pushing auburn hair up out of his face, but that’s exactly what got him in this mess in the first place (probably, unless it was Kravitz doing it).

“Can Barry and I live here, too?” Lup asks. Magnus looks to Taako, and apparently whatever’s written across Taako’s face is enough that Magnus turns back towards the house.

“Hey, Krav, get out here!” Magnus hollers. He turns back to Lup and Taako. “Did she figure it out?”

“Pretty much,” Taako tells him. Kravitz appears beside Magnus like he glided there on a skateboard.

“What’s wrong?” Kravitz asks, and he’s rolled up his shirtsleeves and unbuttoned his few top buttons at some point while he was helping Magnus, and _there’s_ the other half of what got Taako in this mess.

“Lup and Barry want to live here, too,” Magnus tells him. Kravitz and Magnus now both look at Taako at the same time, and Taako wonders what the _fuck_ his face is doing, because they turn back to each other right away.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Kravitz says. “I think we can make that work.”

“Yeah, no sweat, Lup,” Magnus says. “We’ll put on an addition for ya. It’ll take a little longer, though.”

“Perfect,” Lup says, before she releases Taako and barrels at Magnus. He drops the hammer he was holding and catches her as she launches herself at him, wrapping herself around him. “You fucking _stud._ Good work.”

“Could be Krav’s,” Magnus comments, even as he returns the hug. Lup leans over and smacks Kravitz on the shoulder, which Kravitz yelps at.

“Krav gets recognition when he _apologizes_ for lying _to my face,”_ Lup pointedly says. Kravitz looks desperately to Taako, who doesn’t even twitch to help him. _Then perish._

“We were trying to keep it secret,” Kravitz tells her. Lup scowls at him.

 _“We’re family,”_ Lup says, dropping to the ground so she can smack Kravitz on the arm, then yank him in for a hug. Something about those two words has sent Kravitz into a spiral, because he looks a little glassy-eyed and kind of delighted.

“I suppose we are,” Kravitz says. Magnus claps him on the back.

“I gotta tell Barry,” Lup says, in her next breath. Taako lets his arms smack into his side.

“I _just_ fucking told you you can’t tell Barry,” Taako reminded her.

“But how’m I going to explain why the hell we’re moving into your house?” Lup asks. Taako shrugs, arms raised, dramatic as ever.

“I don’t fucking know, tell him you _miss me,_ your _only brother?”_ Taako suggests. “That’d be a start. I don’t think he’d object, honestly.”

“I miss Barold,” Magnus comments. “Where’d Merle go, anyways?”

“Hell if I know,” Taako replies, before a headache hits his head all at once. “Jesus _fuck,_ what the _shit?”_

“Head hurts again?” Magnus asks, as Kravitz gets closer and runs his fingers over Taako’s head.

“Mm,” Taako says. He looks up at Kravitz and his stomach rolls. Kravitz’s face blanches. _“Shit.”_

“Come,” Kravitz says, pulling Taako backwards until he’s got his head over the balcony and he’s retching over air into the ocean.

“Jesus, that’s gross,” Lup comments. Taako extends a hand backwards and flips her off as Kravitz gathers his hair back for him and strokes his face. “Don’t do this in my new house, bruh.”

“I’m gonna do this in your _bed,”_ Taako manages to spit back before he’s sick again. Lup flutters over to him and leans against the railing beside him.

“Guess you’re really pregnant, huh?” Lup comments, but Taako’s too occupied to answer. “Gross. Gonna say yes on this one.” When Taako lifts his head, she leans up and kisses his forehead. “Love you, bro.”

“Fuck you, Lup,” Taako coughs. Lup laughs, delighted.


	4. Month Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merle makes a discovery. Magnus is pleasantly surprised. Kravitz does the exact opposite of his job. Taako panics a little.

Taako wakes up one day and his heart is _pounding,_ harder and faster than it’s ever gone in his whole life. He’s only been meditating for a couple of hours, but Kravitz is already out of bed and Taako can’t hear him nearby, so he’s probably already left the house. Magnus sleeps next to him, snoring loudly, one arm thrown up over his face. Taako hurriedly casts Heartbeat Healing, but his heart rate doesn’t change. He _does,_ however, immediately sense a whole bunch of heartbeats in his immediate vicinity, and he can’t pick out whose is whose like he normally can — they're all jumbled up. Taako’s instantly baffled, so he sneaks out of bed and finds his Stone of Far Speech in their half-done living room.

“Merle,” Taako whispers into it, because Merle’s the closest thing he has to a healer right now — or ever, really. “My heart’s all fucked up. You up?”

“Havin’ a heart attack?” Merle asks. It doesn’t sound like he got woken up, not that Taako would _overly_ care if he had been because he’s _dying alone_ in his unfinished living room. “That’s probably normal.”

“There’s like— more heartbeats,” Taako explains stupidly, but he cuts himself a little slack, since he’s _literally dying._

“Oh, hey, baby heartbeat,” Merle says. “Neat. I’ll be right over.”

Merle has been staying right down the street, a couple of houses down from Hammer and Tails [A Dog’s School], so he really is basically right over. It still takes him long enough that Taako tries and fails to drink a glass of water, then lies down on his back on the cold, half-tiled kitchen floor, hands over his eyes, trying to will his pulse to calm _down._

“Chill out, you big baby,” Merle says, when he unlocks the front door and makes his way over to Taako. “Can you stand up?”

“Yeah,” Taako says, because he’s overdramatic but his legs are fine, and the floor is less comfortable than he’d hoped. Merle offers him a hand and hauls him up. Taako lets Merle open his little knapsack and pull out a bunch of cups and herbs and shit.

“Didja cast Heartbeat Healing?” Merle asks, holding up a jar of something slimy and purple. Taako eyes it warily.

“Yeah, didn’t work,” Taako tells him. “What, you think I’m a fucking amateur?”

“Chill _out,”_ Merle repeats. “Probably bad for your damn kid if you’re worked up all the time. Go sit, I’ll be right over.”

Taako obliges, because he _loves_ sitting, and he collapses into Magnus’ easy chair. Merle comes over after a little bit and Taako’s draped comfortably enough to stop shimmying around.

“Swallow this and we’ll check things out,” Merle instructs. Taako’s given up on asking Merle questions at this point, so he takes the leafy concoction and swallows it down in one go. Merle immediately pulls out a little hammer-looking thing with a little earpiece on it.

“What the fuck is that?” Taako asks. Merle just sticks the earpiece in one of his ears and moves towards Taako, but Taako shrinks against the back of the chair. “Whoa, kemosabe, take a breather, what the hell are you doing?”

“It’s called a _fetoscope,”_ Merle tells him proudly. “I invented it for ya. It can hear baby heartbeats. Fetus heartbeats.” He waves it. “Now, you gonna let me do this or no?”

Taako can still feel the strange jumble of heartbeats, so he finally acquiesces, relaxing and letting Merle hitch up his sleep shirt and dig the hammer into the skin of his abdomen. Merle glances up at him.

“You got heartbeats, big guy,” Merle tells him. “Nice.”

“The fuck’re you talking about?” Taako asks. Merle raises an eyebrow at him, then moves the shitty little cold hammer thing.

“Sounds like you got other heartbeats in here,” Merle says. “Cast Detect Heartbeat. Lemme know what you think.”

Taako does as asked, and immediately hears what Merle’s saying. There’s a throbbing inside of him, the magic trying to give him an answer from his spell, and he’s fucking _blindsided._

“How many? Two?” Merle asks. Taako shakes his head and plants his face in his palm. He holds up three fingers with his other hand, and Merle whistles. “Good thing there’s three of you, then. You plan this?”

“Does anything about this scream _planned_ to you?” Taako asks, hand still over his eyes. “I got knocked up by fucking Death and-slash-or Mr. _Rustic Charm,_ I’m living in a house that only half-exists, most of my family is fucking _undead,_ and now I’m having three fucking half-elf monster children.”

Merle’s quiet for a bit, then says, “Yeah, doesn’t exactly _scream_ planned.”

“I hate you sometimes,” Taako mutters. Merle sputters.

“Don’t blame me, you’re the one who can’t keep it in your pants,” Merle tells him. Taako peeks through his fingers at him.

“What’m I gonna tell them?” Taako says. Merle shrugs, throwing his shit back into his little knapsack.

“Hell if I know,” Merle replies.

“Helpful,” Taako snorts.

“Quit making a habit of finding things out with _me,_ then,” Merle says.

“What’d’ya find out?” Magnus’ voice asks from the hallway, and Taako honest-to-god _screams. “Fucking hell,_ Taako—”

 _“Do not_ sneak up on me like that,” Taako snaps. Merle slams his bag shut and looks over at Magnus, then whistles.

“Nice one, Maggie,” he comments, and Taako looks up over the back of the chair to see Magnus is mostly-naked, save for his underwear (that might actually be Kravitz’s, based on how poorly it fits) and a hard love bruise on his shoulder.

“At least I’m getting some, old man,” Magnus shoots back. “Seriously, though, what’s up? Taako alright? Kid alright?”

“Full sentences, caveman,” Taako says. He glances at Merle, then back to Magnus, and he switches to Elvish. _“We’ll talk in a sec, okay?”_

 _“Is it bad?”_ Magnus asks. Taako is, abruptly, glad that he’d taken the time to teach Magnus Elvish while they were on the _Starblaster._

 _“I don’t think so,”_ Taako replies. Merle throws his arms up.

“Don’t speak fucking Common on my account or anything, don’t worry, I’ll just go over here and get myself something to eat,” Merle says, heading for the kitchen. Magnus sits down cross-legged in front of the chair where Taako is sitting and looks up at him expectantly. Taako sighs.

 _“What is it?”_ Magnus asks, still in Elvish. Taako wonders if he should wait for Kravitz, but he’s also _dying_ with the information trapped inside of him, literally and figuratively. Taako points down at his own abdomen.

 _“Three of ‘em,”_ Taako tells him. Magnus’ mouth drops open almost comically, and his attention snaps right down to Taako’s stomach, and he sits up onto his knees and buries his face in Taako’s belly, nose pressing right into his sternum.

“Oh my God,” Magnus murmurs into his shirt. He’s _obviously_ delighted. Taako digs his Stone of Far Speech out of the pocket of his pajama pants and dials into Kravitz’s channel.

“Krav, baby, you around?” he asks, as Magnus grips his hips in both hands and sighs against his abdomen. There’s a little bit of fuzzy static, then Kravitz’s voice finally appears.

“Sort of?” he replies, and there’s a choked-off gurgle in the background, then the sound of a thud. “I’m here with Barry and Lup. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but we just got news,” Taako says. There’s a beat of silence.

“Good news?” Kravitz asks. There’s another thump in the background. Taako looks down at Magnus, unsure how to answer in the moment.

“Yeah,” Magnus replies. “Yeah, I really think it’s good news.”

“You okay, Koko?” Lup’s voice asks from the back. Magnus laughs wetly.

“He’s good,” Magnus replies. Taako furrows his brow at him, but there’s no heat behind his frown. “You guys coming home soon?”

“We can,” Kravitz answers. “Don’t move, give us a minute.”

“‘Kay,” Taako answers, and hangs up before Magnus can get any more sentimental. He’s still got his face buried in Taako’s stomach. “You alright, there, bubbeleh?”

“I never thought I’d have a family again,” Magnus says into his shirt. Taako strokes his mess of bedhead curls back from his face.

“You got a family right here, baby, always,” Taako replies, feeling a little more open than usual. Magnus dips his head down and shuts his eyes. Taako keeps running his fingers through Magnus’ hair while Merle pointedly looks in the other direction, slurping at one of Magnus’ fantasy protein smoothies that he found in the fridge. After a couple of minutes of this kind of quiet moment, the air rips open and Kravitz hops out, Lup and Barry tumbling through behind him.

“What’s up?” Lup asks, already bounding over to Taako while Kravitz stitches up the portal. Barry looks lightly bemused at Merle staring at the wall. Lup stops next to Taako’s chair, looking at Magnus on his knees. “We interrupting something?”

“It’s three,” Magnus says, before Taako can even open his mouth. He looks up at Lup, then back at Kravitz. “Three babies. He’s having three.”

Kravitz stares at Magnus’ face, expression unreadable, then up to Taako’s. “What?”

Taako’s heart sinks. “Three fuckin’ kids, angel face. You up for that?”

Kravitz keeps staring at him, then he moves faster than Taako’s ever seen him move before, and suddenly he’s _right there,_ perched on the arm of the chair, and he’s got Taako’s head cradled against his chest. Taako lets out a muffled _uhmmph_ and lets Kravitz bury his face into Taako’s hair.

“This is… so much more,” Kravitz says, “than I ever expected. Just… this is the exact _opposite_ of what my life was supposed to be. Or, death, I suppose. After-life. This is the _opposite_ of my job.”

“Nice one, Krav,” Lup comments from behind the armchair. She leans over the back to kiss the side of Taako’s face. “Good work, baby bro. Those multiple genes are strong. Keep the twin genes flourishing, give ‘em an extra. Awesome.”

“You all suck,” Taako says, voice muffled by Kravitz’s arms. He’s still got Magnus in his lap, Kravitz wrapped around his shoulders and head, and now Lup’s right near his ear.

“Maybe if _you_ sucked more, you wouldn’t be here now,” Lup comments. Barry snorts on a laugh, and Taako points a hand in the general direction of the sound, since he can’t see past his face full of Kravitz’s robes.

“I’m gonna blast you into _space,_ Barold,” Taako threatens. Lup flicks him on the side of the head. Taako’s not as scared as he was when he woke up alone that morning anymore.


	5. Month Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus has a grand unveiling. Taako has emotions. Everyone moves in.

Taako is trying and failing to meditate on the beach when Magnus comes out to where he’s sitting cross-legged in the water and gingerly taps him on the shoulder. Taako falls out of the meditation and lifts his head to look up.

“What do you want?” Taako asks. He’s been sitting shirtless on the beach down by the ocean for a couple of hours, letting the water circle around his folded legs. When he looks down at Magnus’ ankles, he sees he’s got his pants rolled up nearly to his knees to avoid the ends of them getting wet.

“I finished the house,” Magnus says. “Sorry, I didn’t wanna interrupt your meditation, but you told me to tell you.”

“Thanks, Mango,” Taako says. He holds up a hand and Magnus takes it, hauling Taako to his feet. He brushes Taako’s hair away from his face once they’re standing, and his stupid face looks so  _ tender  _ that Taako can barely stand it. Magnus has been doing a lot of intense staring and overprotective hovering lately. Taako’s barely putting up with it, at this point, but he’s pretty much low-key aggravated all the time.

“Hey,” Magnus says. He looks down over Taako’s bare chest and down to his stomach. “Hey, look at that. That’s pretty neat.”

Taako looks down, and, yeah, he’d already noticed — he’s started showing, which makes sense, according to Merle’s plethora of books he’s been gathering on the varied subjects. Magnus is staring, which also makes sense, according to how well Taako knows Magnus at this point in their lives.

“Yeah, I guess,” Taako says, because he’s still deciding how he feels about it. He takes the chance to look Magnus over. Compared to him, Magnus has a lot of scars — still has the long one over his eye, a bunch on his chest and his back from adventuring, some new ones from building the house. Taako has his own scars: ones laced in silver all over his back from his childhood, a collection from Sazed, a few from different adventures — these ones, Magnus usually saw the origins of.

Magnus also has a couple of tattoos now, too, now that Carey has been learning how to use a fantasy tattoo gun and Killian has been showing her how to actually make art with it.

_ He’s  _ looking good.  _ Taako  _ feels like a mess.

“Everyone’s back up at the house,” Magnus tells him. “If you wanna head back up there.”

Taako looks up the hill to the house, and, Magnus is right, he can see vague outlines of people up there, and the house finally looks completely finished. He glances to Magnus.

“It’s kinda far,” Taako says, and he’s barely finished the full sentence before Magnus is crouching down, getting one huge arm around Taako’s thighs, and hauling him up over his shoulder. Magnus’ three dogs are already sprinting down the hill at them as Magnus carries him up: Johann and two newer Scottish Deerhounds, still mostly-puppies named Jellybean and Joaquin, sprinting around and nipping at Magnus’ ankles.

“Didn’t wanna walk, lazybones?” Lup calls to them. Kravitz comes over to him and hands Taako a plaid button-down shirt when Magnus sets him on the ground. Taako tugs the shirt on and realizes it’s Magnus’ when it hangs down nearly to his knees.

“Ready to go in for the first time?” Magnus asks. Taako rolls his eyes.

“We basically already live here,” Taako reminds him. Magnus motions to the door anyways.

“But it’s  _ brand new,”  _ Magnus says. “It’s a  _ grand unveiling,  _ Taako. We’re moving in for the first time! It’s—”

“Alright, alright, calm down,” Taako interrupts. He looks back at Lup and Barry, but they’re just grinning at him. Taako sighs. “Alright, homie, gimme the grand tour, let’s do this.”

Magnus opens the door and motions dramatically inside, then stops dead in the doorway, whirling around and planting his hand on Taako’s chest. “Hold up.”

“What?” Taako asks, already exasperated.

“Well, you see, there’s a human tradition where the— Ahh. Ahh, never mind, it’s stupid,” Magnus cuts himself off. Barry huffs a laugh behind them and poorly tries to cover it with a cough. Taako and Magnus both turn to glare at him.

“What, the threshold thing?” Kravitz asks. Taako and Magnus both look at him instead, and Kravitz would blush, if he did that sort of thing. “I, uhh. They had that when I was still… alive. Never mind.”

“Tell me about it,” Taako demands. Neither of them speaks. He looks back to Barry. “Barold. Talk.”

“I don’t think it’s my—” Barry starts to say, but Lup reaches over and purple nurples him, and he yelps. “Fuck! Fine. It’s an old marriage tradition. You’re supposed to carry your— uhh, your spouse. Over the threshold. After you’re married and move into your house for the first time.” At the twin stares Taako and Lup are still giving him, he shrugs. “It’s a thing. I dunno.”

“So… you’re both stupid romantics,” Taako says.

“I don’t do romance,” Magnus replies, at the same time Kravitz says, “It’s not  _ that  _ stupid.”

Taako sighs. “Jeezy creezy, the two of you are fucking ridiculous.” He holds his arms out to Kravitz. “Just do it.”

Kravitz looks at Magnus, then back to Taako, before he scoops Taako up in his arms and slides past Magnus into the house. Once he’s in there, he turns back to Magnus, still holding Taako. Taako looks at him as seriously as he can in the position he’s in.

“I get if you don’t want to,” Taako says.

“I did this with Julia,” Magnus tells him, which Taako could’ve guessed based on his hesitation. The two of them stand there, Taako between them, for a long moment, before Kravitz extends his arms slightly. After another long moment of motionlessness, Magnus holds his own out, and Kravitz slides Taako into them, less gracefully than he would’ve wanted but as gracefully as he can manage. Magnus takes his turn, then sets Taako on his feet. When Taako looks back, Lup is already knocking Barry’s knees out from under him, hauling him up over her shoulder, and taking him through the doorway.

“It’s only right,” Lup says, dropping Barry to his feet. Barry straightens his shirt.

“She’s right,” Barry agrees. Lup whacks Taako on the back.

“I forgot to tell you, buddy, I got a lead on Greg fucking Grimaldis,” Lup says. Magnus shoos her away.

“Tell him after, I wanna show him the house,” Magnus tells her. He motions towards the far end of the living room, where there’s a door. “That hallway leads to Lup and Barry’s rooms, they’ve got their own bedroom, bathroom, a kitchen and a den.” He takes Taako by the hand and guides him through the living room into a  _ massive  _ kitchen. “This is for you.”

Lup whistles behind them. Taako reaches out a hand and gingerly touches the countertop on the island in the middle of the kitchen. He’s momentarily  _ breathless. _

“You, uhh,” Taako says, then clears his throat. “You did all this for me?”

“Yeah, of course,” Magnus tells him. “You like to cook. I figured you’d like it.”

Taako laughs. “Buddy. You’re _ so _ good, it’s fucking insane.” He lets go of the countertop. “Too good for this shit world.”

“Uhh, thanks,” Magnus says. Taako glances toward the hallway.

“What’s down there?” Taako asks, desperate not to get too emotional, and Magnus jumps at the chance to show Taako the rooms now that he’s actually showing interest.

“Here’s our bathroom,” Magnus says, tossing open the first door. It’s pretty awesome, but Magnus is already leading him down the hall, too excited to hesitate. “This is Angus’ room, I figure he’ll want to hang around and stuff so it’s, like, his guest room. And  _ here’s  _ our  _ actual  _ guest room, and here’s my workshop, and here’s your space, Kravitz, you can do whatever you want with it, and here’s  _ your  _ space, Taako, for meditation or whatever you wanna do, and here’s the nursery, and those’ll be their rooms when they’re older, but those aren’t all done inside yet, and  _ here’s—”  _ Magnus says, tossing open the last door, “our bedroom.”

Taako leans in the doorway and looks into the room. The middle of it is filled with a king-sized bed, and he’s already tearing up because he’s a  _ mess  _ lately.

“It’s fantastic, Magnus, thank you,” Kravitz says behind them. Taako rubs at his wet eyes.

“You’re such a fucking  _ sap,”  _ Taako says. He takes a running leap into the dead center of the bed, disturbing the covers and immediately rolling to wrap himself up in the blankets. He sticks his head out of the covers and looks up at Magnus. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, dingus,” Magnus says. Lup dives into the blankets after Taako and snuggles up around him.

“I gotta tell you more about Grimaldis,” Lup says near Taako’s ear as she wraps herself around him.  _ “Aww,  _ you got a lil’ baby belly, baby brother.”

“Screw you,” Taako says near her ear. Lup squeezes him tight.

“I got heist plans,” Lup reminds him. “Focus, big guy. Let’s do this.”


	6. Month Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako shares a feeling or two. Lup is there for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've given up on a posting schedule. It's all already written and I just want to share it, so here it comes!

Taako’s been unfairly  _ abandoned  _ in his own home, which fucking  _ sucks.  _ Everybody else is gone for the day — Magnus is at Hammer and Tails [A Dog’s School], and Kravitz, Lup, and Barry are busting up some group of serious necromancers — and Taako has been sitting on the floor of their bathroom for two hours, because he’s sick  _ all the fucking time  _ now and he’s getting  _ tired  _ of it.

“Fuck you,” Taako says, in the direction of the open door. There’s nobody home to hear it, but he emphatically  _ means  _ “fuck you” to his whole abandoning family. He sits up again and sticks his head back into the toilet bowl to vomit again, and when he finishes, he lays back down, staring at his own reflection in the floor-length mirror Magnus put on the wall for him. Right now, he doesn’t feel much like using it, but he also doesn’t feel much like moving.

Looking in the mirror, Taako feels a surge of bad, old weirdness that he thought he’d fought down years ago. With the pregnancy, he’s been… doing his best, but sometimes, it’s not enough, and all the old shit comes back. He can’t wear his binder, he can’t ignore the softer curves of his body, and usually he doesn’t mind it, but now, he’s kinda pissed. It’s a combination of a lot of things, but he’s  _ pissed  _ about this. He likes his hips; he likes his waist; he likes what he looks like, sometimes. Usually when he’s cast Disguise Self to look how he  _ used  _ to look, before he had to give up his own appearance. He used to like how thin he was, too, but carrying three babies makes that fucking impossible. He has enough trouble with food; this shit is just adding to it.

The trouble is that it’s all so complicated and he can’t sort out his feelings and he’s  _ upset  _ about it, and he’s  _ sick  _ all the time, and  _ nobody is fucking home. _

Taako reaches for his Stone of Far Speech, then sighs, retracting his hand. He could call Magnus, maybe, or even Ren, because they’re not  _ as  _ busy, even if they are. He stares at the Stone for a little bit longer, then reaches out again and snatches it up, pressing the button to speak into it. Before he gets the chance to speak, he stops himself, letting it go and putting it back down on the bathroom floor. His stomach rolls again, and he sits back up, ducking his head back into the toilet. He jumps when he feels a hand on his back, but he’s too busy to look up in that moment. When he finishes, he leans back, looks up, and sees Lup crouching next to him.

“Hey, Koko,” Lup says softly. She flushes the toilet for him and sits down next to him, pulling his head into her lap. “You okay?”

“No,” Taako spits. “Why’re you here? I thought you had to work.”

“My Stone of Far Speech is tuned into your channel,” Lup told him. “I heard you turn it on and off and thought you might be hurt or something, I was worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” Taako says. He lets her comb her fingers through his hair, but he turns his face into her lap. He’s done looking in the mirror. He hears Lup shift above him, then she moves, turning to fully pull Taako into her lap.

“Hey,” Lup says. Taako doesn’t answer. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m sick, isn’t that enough?” Taako replies, voice muffled by being pressed into Lup’s hip. She runs her fingers down his back, scratching it lightly in trailing circles.

“Just seems like something else is bothering you,” Lup continues.

“Well, nothing is.”

“Liar.”

“Fuck you,” Taako snarls. Lup doesn’t say anything. There’s silence for a long moment, then Taako says, quietly, “I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong, Koko?” Lup asks again. Taako keeps his face turned down, buried in her hip, eyes fixed on the floor.

“My body feels wrong,” Taako tells her.

“Like, it hurts?” Lup asks.

“No.”

“Oh,” Lup says. She’s quiet for a second, then places a cold hand on his face and turns it so he’s looking up at her from her lap. “You should’ve told me. I get that, Taako. You know I do.”

“I just—” Taako says, then exhales harshly. “I don’t know. It just ain’t right. I’m, uhh— I’m a guy. And my body is doing stupid… not-guy things. And I know I dress, like, girly sometimes, but I’m a guy, and that’s who I am, and it’s stupid that I feel stupid but—”

“It’s not stupid,” Lup interrupts him. “It’s not. You can feel however you feel. It’s your own body. How you dress isn’t who you are.”

“It feels stupid.”

“It’s not.”

“Oh, well, thank you, everything’s better now,” Taako replies. Lup just keeps rubbing his back. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Lup says. “I’d be pissed, too. I get it. You can talk about that with me, anytime.” She trails a hand down his side. “I wanted to talk to you about something, actually.”

“What?” Taako asks. “You taking advantage of my weak and sensitive state to make me talk about feelings or something?”

“Oh, hell yeah,” Lup says. “It’s the only way to get you to talk about anything, you little clamshell.”

“Screw you, I’m  _ so  _ emotionally healthy, it’s stupid,” Taako replies. Lup scoffs.

_ “You’re  _ stupid sometimes,” Lup tells him. “No, I’m worried about you. Let me be worried about you. Magnus is worried, too. And Krav. And Barry’s even noticed, so, you know it’s fucked up.”

“What’d I do?” Taako asks, abruptly nervous. “If I pissed someone off, tell them to get over it, I’m carrying  _ three  _ fucking kids all the time.”

“You didn’t piss anyone off this time,” Lup tells him. “I, uhh— I noticed you weren’t eating right. Or, like, not like you used to. So, I asked Magnus—”

“You asked  _ Magnus?”  _ Taako interrupts her. “Jesus  _ Christ—” _

“And he said you’ve been having this problem since you met. Well, met the second time,” Lup continues, like he hadn’t spoken. “And he told me about Glamour Springs.”

“Jesus fuck,” Taako says, moving to sit up, turning his head away. Lup reaches out and stills him, and he just moves his head off her lap instead, laying down on the bathroom floor instead of on her. She lays out, too, stretching her legs out through the open door into the hallway, and lines them up so their faces are in the same space. She looks into his eyes, the same pale blue-green as hers, then reaches up and lays her hand along his face.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks him. He shakes his head as best as he can laying on the floor. “Taako. We tell each other everything.”

“Then why’d you leave without telling me?” Taako asks. “Hm? Why didn’t you tell me what you were doing, if we tell each other everything?”

Lup blinks at him, and her eyes get a little glassy. “Dick.”

“It’s true,” Taako says. “This is a two-way street, Lulu. Can’t play the card if I can’t play it back.”

“It was for the best,” Lup says. “It was the best decision I could make at the time. We’re not talking about me right now. We’re talking about you, and how you barely eat because you blame yourself for something that wasn’t even your fault.”

“It  _ was  _ my fault,” Taako tells her. “Even if they say it’s not. I should’ve known. I pushed Sazed to—”

“Stop,” Lup says. “Stop.”

“You didn’t know Sazed,” Taako says. “I should’ve known he’d get to that point. I should’ve stopped him, and I didn’t.”

“There’s no  _ should’ve,”  _ Lup tells him. “There just isn’t. From what you’ve told me about this guy, he’s lucky  _ you  _ didn’t kill him. I’m honestly pretty close to just killing him myself.”

“Lup—”

“Taako,  _ stop,”  _ Lup says. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t fuck up any magic or any ingredients, you didn’t poison anybody.”

“I fed them their deaths,” Taako says, because that sentence still rings in his ears every day. “I did. And I didn’t die, even though I was supposed to.”

“You couldn’t.”

“I should’ve.”

_ “Taako,”  _ Lup snaps, and Taako’s eyes dart up to look at hers. “Never say that.  _ Never.” _

“I—”

“I can’t lose you,” Lup says. “Ever. Not  _ ever.  _ Not again. Do you hear me?”

Taako stares at her. The moment feels too heavy, but he doesn’t know how to break it, so he just nods against the floor again.

“Kravitz suggested we come up with a meal plan calendar… thing, for you,” Lup tells him, and Taako keeps staring at her. “I’ll help you cook. I’ll eat whatever you eat. You’re going to be okay.”

Taako shakes his head again, then turns his face into the tile of the floor. He hates that everyone was worrying about him, talking about him behind his back. He hates that they noticed. He hates that there was anything _ to _ notice. He stares at the floor. Lup’s hand snakes out and wraps into the hair at the crown of his head.

“I love you, Koko,” Lup whispers. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Stupid,” Taako says into the floor, then laughs breathlessly. “Jeezy creezy, we got heavy, didn’t we? We should do something insane to balance out the day.”

“Wanna go cut a pair of Barry’s jeans into jorts?” Lup asks. “He keeps mentioning that he should but he never does it, but I think he’d look good in booty shorts.”

“Disgusting. I’m in,” Taako agrees. Lup helps him stand up, washes his face, then leads him to her bedroom, where he sits in her bed and buries his face in her pillow while she cuts and stitches Barry’s jorts, and he feels a little less alone.


	7. Month Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus is overprotective, then picks some flowers. Kravitz means well. Taako overreacts.

“Koko, you’re bleeding again,” Lup says over breakfast. Taako groans loudly and covers his face with his hand, swiping at the blood coming from his nose. He’s been getting a lot of nosebleeds lately, and he gets dizzy a lot, but he’s stopped vomiting so often, so he’s counting it as a good trade.

“C’mere,” Magnus says, already standing up. Taako waves him off, but Magnus is putting his arm around him and helping him to his feet. Taako looks at Lup and rolls his eyes dramatically, and Lup laughs. Magnus all but drags Taako over to the sink and pinches the bridge of his nose, tipping Taako’s head forward over the drain.

“Stay there,” Magnus orders him, then jogs into the living room and through the door into Lup and Barry’s rooms. Taako looks at the table sideways from his place over the sink.

“Help, I’m dying,” he deadpans. Lup and Barry both laugh. Kravitz just keeps looking at him.

“You’re still getting nosebleeds?” Kravitz asks. Taako holds up his bloody hand.

“What’s it look like, kemosabe?” he answers. He turns the water on in the sink and lets it run over his hand. “Hachi machi, this looks like a murder scene. Sorry, everyone. I’ll wash the dishes.”

“No, you won’t,” Barry calls.

“No, I won’t,” Taako agrees, looking back at them again. Kravitz still looks upset. “What’s up, bone daddy? You look like you swallowed a bee.”

“Colorful,” Barry comments.

“I just didn’t know you were still getting nosebleeds,” Kravitz says. Before Taako can analyze that any further, Magnus comes jogging back in with an ice pack in his hand.

“Where’d you get that?” Lup asks.

“He keeps them in our freezer,” Barry tells her.

“Why the fuck are they in  _ our  _ freezer?” Lup asks. Magnus opens their freezer on his way back to Taako and shows Lup the sheer amount of lasagnas they have stored in it, nearly full. “Ahh.”

“Yeah,” Magnus says, shutting the freezer door and coming back to Taako. He pulls Taako’s hand away from his face and scoops up a handful of water, using it to wash the blood away from Taako’s face. Once he’s satisfied that Taako’s not bleeding anymore, he wraps the ice pack up in a dish towel and presses it against Taako’s nose and cheeks.

“Do you feel dizzy?” Magnus asks. Taako shakes his head. “Really?”

“Lil’ bit,” Taako answers. Magnus brushes his thumb over Taako’s chin, then kisses his forehead. Taako snorts.

“What?” Magnus asks. Taako motions to his face.

“It’s just a nosebleed, big guy,” Taako says. “I’m not gonna die.”

“Better not,” Magnus says. “Don’t want Merle to have to burn his only spell slot trying to heal you.”

Taako laughs again. “And failing.”

Magnus grins at him, then motions back to the table. “Wanna finish breakfast?”

“Sure,” Taako agrees, because he  _ really  _ wants to sit down. Magnus keeps a hand at the small of his back as they go back over, and it’s especially overprotective, but Taako’s dizzy enough to allow it. By the time he’s back in his chair next to Kravitz, he’s ready to put his head in his hands.

“Are you okay?” Kravitz asks. Taako tilts his head to look at him.

“Yeah, just dizzy,” he says. “Don’t worry about Taako, I’m still ballin’. I’ll finish my breakfast and shit.”

“You should probably stay home,” Magnus comments. Taako waves him off.

“Nah, you probably should,” Barry says. “Otherwise you’ll end up passing out at the school again.”

“What?” Kravitz asks.

“Too late,” Lup says, texting on her Stone of Far Speech. “I’m telling Ren you’re not coming in.”

“You’re all insane,” Taako says. Lup sets her Stone of Far Speech on the table and starts scooping oatmeal into her mouth again.

“Protect my little niece-nephews,” Lup says. She points her spoon at him. “My niecephews. Protect them.”

“You’re a monster,” Taako says. Kravitz is still staring intently at the side of his face, so Taako looks at him. “Why are you staring at me? I know I haven’t cast Disguise Self yet, but that doesn’t mean—”

“No,” Kravitz hurries to interrupt him. “No, no, it’s not— not that. I just didn’t realize… I don’t know. How much I didn’t know.”

“Krav, you’re busy, I get it,” Taako says, because he  _ does.  _ Even though he misses Kravitz every moment he’s not there, the guy is also literally Death, so he doesn’t really have much of a choice.

“It’s just—” Kravitz says, then turns more fully towards Taako. “Magnus is always nearby, and Ren runs the school when you’re not there, and Lup and Barry are here, and I’m— not. And I should be.”

“Krav, I really do get it,” Taako says. “It’s, like, your job. You’re Death. It’s reasonable that you’ll be a  _ little  _ busy.”

“But I should be here,” Kravitz reiterates. He motions towards Taako’s abdomen. “At least, you know, if you need anything, or just to be— around. You know.”

Taako knows as he’s reacting that he’s  _ over _ reacting, but also he’s just bled out of his face and he’s dizzy and exhausted, so he frowns. “Oh, I— Yeah. Alright.” He gets up. “Well, if you need your incubator, then, I’m gonna go meditate.”

“Taako, that’s not what I meant,” Kravitz says, but Taako’s already standing up, and Magnus stands up, too, ready to catch him if he falls. Taako does stumble a little when his head rushes and his vision goes blurry, and Magnus grabs his arms, steadying him.

“You okay?” Magnus asks. Taako nods.

“Yeah, thanks, Mags,” Taako says. He brushes him off and heads out of the room, passing by their bedroom and heading to the room Magnus had built into the house solely for him. He shuts the door behind him and heads for the nest of soft cushions and pillows and blankets in the corner, his new favorite place to meditate. He shuts his eyes and he’s so exhausted that he falls into his trance right away, even though he’s low-key pissed.

He’s not sure how long he meditates for, but when he wakes up, his joints are kind of stiff. He shakes out his arms, stretches out his legs, and notices there’s a glass of water and some crackers on a little plate next to him. He sighs, but he is thirsty, so he drinks half of the water in one go. He knows he was probably harsh on Kravitz earlier, but he was frustrated and tired and Kravitz—

_ Means well,  _ Taako supplies himself, in his own head. Kravitz is feeling left out and like he doesn’t know much about Taako’s life, and he’s worried about the babies, yeah, of  _ course  _ he is, but he’s also  _ probably  _ worried about Taako.

Taako opens the door to his room, and Kravitz falls into it, apparently having been leaning against his door, waiting to hear him moving around. Kravitz looks up at Taako, and Taako looks down at Kravitz.

“I’m sorry,” Kravitz says, in a heap at Taako’s feet. He shifts around and stands up. “I shouldn’t’ve— Doesn’t matter. I wasn’t thinking. Of course I’m worried about you.”

“I’m sorry I’m stupider than usual,” Taako said. He points a finger at Kravitz. “That’s the only apology you’re  _ ever  _ going to get out of me for the rest of our lives, so enjoy it.”

“I’ll savor it forever,” Kravitz says. There’s silence for a moment. “I’m sorry I work so much.”

“Ain’t no thang,” Taako says, and moves to walk around him, but Kravitz catches him with an arm around his waist. Kravitz shakes his head, then traces his hand around to Taako’s front, at the significant swell of his belly. He lets his hand linger there. Taako doesn’t move to remove it.

“It is,” Kravitz says. His fingers tighten on Taako’s stomach. “I want to stay home more often. Everyone’s home without me, I want to be here with you.” Kravitz looks him in the eyes. “You, Taako. I swear.”

“I know, I’m just a big baby right now,” Taako tells him. “I just want a shitload of attention and it’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” Kravitz says. “First of all, you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t want a shitload of attention.”

“Fair,” Taako allows.

“Second, you  _ should  _ want attention. You’re growing children. That’s insane,” Kravitz says. Taako sighs dramatically.

“I  _ guess,”  _ he says, but he grins. He flips his hair over his shoulder. “Hey, is it lunchtime? Can we eat?”

“Uhh— Yes, sure,” Kravitz says. “Are you— Sorry. Are you mad?”

“No, bubbeleh,” Taako says. Kravitz pulls him in and kisses the top of his head.

“I’ll make you lunch,” Kravitz says into his hair. Taako lets himself be reeled in.

* * *

Taako’s head snaps up when he hears a crack in the living room, and he smacks at Magnus and the two of them stand in front of the kitchen table just in time to hide it from view as Kravitz steps through the rift into the living room. He stops just outside of the rift when he sees Taako and Magnus standing side-by-side, watching them warily.

“Uhh,” Kravitz says. The rift closes behind him, and his skin stitches itself back together over his skull. “What’re you doing?”

Magnus is nearly vibrating with energy next to Taako, so Taako steps aside and lets Magnus do his grand reveal. Taako and Magnus made a fucking bomb-ass dinner, which took them a couple of hours, between Taako making the food and Magnus setting the scene for them. There’s flowers and sweet potato soup and vegetarian fantasy-Irish stew. Kravitz doesn’t move, staring at the table, then up at Magnus’ face, then Taako’s.

“What’s this for?” Kravitz finally asks. Magnus looks to Taako, too, and motions to him, lets him take the lead. Taako smoothes out his dress — long, and soft, and blue, and one of Kravitz’s favorites of his maternity dresses — and steps up, closer to Kravitz.

“I know you’ve been feeling— left out,” Taako says. “So. We made dinner—”

_ “Taako  _ made dinner,” Magnus interrupts, “but  _ I  _ picked the flowers.”

“Yeah, he picked the flowers, can’t fuck that up,” Taako adds. “But, we made dinner, and we’re gonna catch you up on every life thing you’ve missed, and you’re gonna like it.” Taako shrugs. “Sorry, you’re stuck with us. We’re not going anywhere.”

“We’re not mad at you or anything,” Magnus reassures him. “I just work nearby, that’s why I know more things. But I’ll make sure you know more things, too.”

“We’re really not mad at you,” Taako reiterates. “We get it. It’s your job.”

“And it is  _ not  _ a normal job,” Magnus adds. “And we don’t fault you for that. We’ve had the least normal jobs in the world sometimes, we get it.”

“So we set aside time for you,” Taako says.

“To make you feel better,” Magnus says.

“Are you two done?” Kravitz asks, after a beat of silence. Magnus nods, and Kravitz steps forward, putting one hand on Magnus’ cheek, the other on Taako’s. He looks at them both. “I love you both.”

Taako smiles. “Krav. That’s  _ so  _ gay.”

Kravitz laughs, an unexpected sound that makes Taako grin. Magnus laughs, too.

“We love you, too, Krav,” Magnus says. Taako nods his head.

“I’ll try harder,” Taako says. “Don’t expect a lot out of me, though. I have the world’s best excuse to slack off.”

“Okay,” Kravitz says, still laughing. He reels them both in. “Okay, I can do that.”

“We’ll set more time aside for just us,” Magnus says. “I promise.”

Taako snorts at him. “Haven’t I set aside enough time for you?”

_ “Taako,”  _ Magnus warns, but Kravitz just keeps laughing.


	8. Month Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako makes a confession. Lup has a realization. Angus visits the new house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm playing fast and loose with geography here, folks.

Lup walks into the kitchen just as Taako is casting Disguise Self on himself after he’d caught his reflection in the window over the sink. For a moment, they just stare at each other. Then,

“Koko,” Lup says. Taako holds up a hand at her, then points at her.

“Don’t say a damn word,” Taako says.

“You know that none of us care what you look like,” Lup says,  _ blatantly  _ ignoring Taako’s request to  _ not say a damn word. _

“Great,” Taako says. “Good for you.  _ I  _ care what I look like. Good talk.”

Taako moves to leave, but Lup darts forward and grabs his wrist.

“Don’t you dare,” Lup says, and Taako glares at her.

“If you wanna yell at me, yell at me in the nursery, I’m working on something,” Taako says. Lup lets his hand go, and Taako heads back down the hallway towards the nursery. He’d been carving sigils into the walls and floor and ceiling before Magnus put the final paneling up, and had only stopped to get a drink of water from the sink.

“Are you doing sigil magic?” Lup asks, as Taako picks his enchanted knife back up and sits cross-legged on the floor, leaning over his own stomach to keep carving into the floor. Lup sits next to him. “Healing sigils, protection sigils— You’re really going all out.”

“Yeah, they’re my kids,” Taako says. “This is the only thing I can actually think of to do for them.”

They’re both silent for a second.

“You’re gonna be a good dad,” Lup comments. Taako turns his head and raises an eyebrow at her.

“I’m going to be  _ a  _ dad,” Taako says. “The goodness or not of that is gonna be up for debate, my dude.”

“You will be,” Lup reiterates. Taako scoffs. “Really. I know we didn’t have the best models—”

“No shit,” Taako interrupts, returning his attention to the sigil under his knife. He tries to force his hands to stop shaking so he won’t fuck it up.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Lup says, and Taako glares up at her.

_ “I’m not,”  _ he says. Lup holds her hands up in surrender.

“I’m just saying,” Lup says. “It’d be okay if you were. We didn’t have the best models, like I said. And our lives… Man, just. Our lives. And who we are. I’d be terrified.”

“Well, I’m not you,” Taako says, then stops. He looks up at Lup. “I shouldn’t’ve said that.”

“No, you shouldn’t’ve,” Lup says.

“I didn’t—” Taako says, then stops. “I wish I was you, sometimes.”

Lup keeps looking at him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Taako looks back down at the sigil, but doesn’t go back to carving it. “You’re, uhh. You’re much… better. Much less fucked up.”

“That’s not true.”

“Kinda is,” Taako reminds her. “Plus, you still look like—” He stops. Lup keeps looking at him.

“Like what?” Lup prods. Taako shakes his head. “Taako, like what?”

“Like us,” Taako finishes. “Like yourself. You look how we’re supposed to look.” He waves a hand at himself. “We’re not identical anymore. That sucks. You’re still, you know, you. You’re gorgeous and amazing and you look like—” Taako stops, looks away, shrugs. “You look like Mom, still. You’re still you.”

“You’re still you, Taako,” Lup says. “No matter what you look like.”

“But I don’t look like  _ me,”  _ Taako says. “So I’m  _ not  _ me.”

“Time makes us all look different,” Lup offers. Taako rolls his eyes at her. “Look, I’m not gonna lie to you, you look different. Of course you look fucking different. But I’d rather you be alive than literally anything else, even if you were the ugliest fucking guy in the universe, which you fucking are not even close to. Got that?”

“Got it,” Taako replies. “Jeezy creezy, you rehearse that?”

“Figured it’d come up eventually,” Lup says. She waves a hand at his face. “Gonna take off Disguise Self now or not, bro?”

Taako glares at her, but she stares right back. He sighs and removes Disguise Self. She reaches up and pinches his cheek; he bats her away.

“You’re still adorable,” Lup tells him. “Really. You still pretty much look like yourself, just… a little different. And that’s fine,” Lup rushes to say, “because we all look different, and things change, and that’s that. And you’re gonna be a good dad. And that’s it.”

Taako stares at her. “You gotta stop bottling stuff up.”

“If you told me stuff, I wouldn’t have to,” Lup shoots back. The two of them look at each other, then Lup reaches out and tucks a long strand of hair behind Taako’s ear. “I know we’re different people than we were, Koko. But you’re still the most important person in my life. We used to tell each other everything.”

Taako nods, then looks down. “I’m having a hard time… reconciling things. Who I am and who I was and who I’m supposed to be now, I guess.”

“That’s okay,” Lup tells him. “I just want you to know I’m here.”

Taako nods again. “I know.”

“And you’re still hot.”

Taako laughs. “Bitch, I  _ know.” _

“And you’re gonna be a good dad,” Lup finishes. Taako leans into her palm where it rests against his face.

“We’ll see,” he says. He motions to the floor. “Now, help me do these fucking sigils, because my legs are starting to lose circulation and if my babies aren’t protected from ghosts, gosh, I just don’t know  _ what  _ I’ll do.”

* * *

Taako’s just getting out of the shower when he hears the front door open and shut. He frowns, because it’s too early for Magnus to be home, and he’s not sure who’s actually around. He twists his hair up into a towel and wraps a second towel around himself and goes to investigate—

—and finds himself looking down at Angus McDonald.

Taako screams.

Angus screams back.

Lup comes sprinting into the room, waving her arms. “Holy hell, stop screaming, what the fuck!”

“I wasn’t expecting to see a fucking child in the hallway?” Taako exclaims. He looks down at Angus. “What the shit are you doing here?”

“Lup asked me to come, sir,” Angus tells him. He looks back at Lup. “I thought he was expecting me, ma’am?”

“None of that ‘ma’am’ and ‘sir’ shit, Agnes, we’re your buddies,” Taako says, at the same time Lup shouts, “Surprise!”

“I don’t understand,” Angus says. Taako looks up at Lup, one eyebrow raised.

“Explain yourself, sis,” Taako tells her. Lup motions to Angus.

“Tell him what you told me on the Stone,” Lup says. Angus seems to think for a moment, but then his face lights up and he turns back to Taako.

“You’re a better dad than any I’ve ever had,” Angus announces. Taako stares down at him in disbelief. “You taught me magic and you’re my best friend and you trusted me and you protected me. You’re already like my dad so you’re gonna be a good dad to your own kids, si— uhh, Taako. I just know it, and I’m the smartest person alive, so, it’s true.”

Taako stares down at Angus.

Angus stares back.

“Jeezy creezy,” Taako says. He looks up at Lup. “Did you write that speech for him, too?”

“That speech was from the heart,” Angus tells him. Taako looks back down at him. “I mean it, sir. Taako. I mean it.”

Taako keeps looking at him. Then, he puts a hand on Angus’ shoulder.

“Pumpkin, if you ever tell anyone I did this,” Taako says, heartfelt, “I’ll fling you into the ocean.” Then, he pulls Angus in for a hug, burying his face into the boy’s hair. Angus comes up to about Taako’s chest, and he hugs him back, squeezing him tightly. Taako exhales, then lets him go. “That’s enough emotion for one lifetime, bubbeleh.”

“I know Magnus is going to be a good dad, too,” Angus says, steamrolling over Taako’s firm ‘no more emotions’ rule. “And I can’t vouch for Mr. Kravitz personally, but I bet he will be, too.”

Taako stares down at him, then says, “Hey, where’ve you been all this time, buddy?”

“The Bureau of Benevolence,” Angus tells him. “I live there still. And I go to Lucas’ school. I’m the best student there.”

Taako looks down the hall at the room Magnus designated for Angus and sighs. “Pumpkin. Baby. Guess what?”

“What?” Angus asks, wary. Taako, still in his towel, leads Angus and Lup down the hall and throws open the door to Angus’ room.

“Wanna move in here?” Taako asks. Angus looks at the room, then to Taako, then back to Lup, who shrugs and gives him a thumbs-up. He looks back to Taako.

“I’d love to!” Angus exclaims, and he hugs Taako again. Taako hugs him back, patting his head lightly. He looks up at Lup, who’s framing them between her fingers like she’s taking a fantasy snapshot.

“Forget this ever happened or I’ll end you,” Taako whispers to her. Lup just dabs a few times, then bounds in to join the hug, sandwiching Angus between them.


	9. Month Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako is in hell. Barry saves the day.

“Krav?” Taako calls from his room. There’s no answer, but he’s not surprised; he doesn’t think anybody’s actually home. At least, nobody was home when he got back from his work at his school. He gets a hand under him and forces himself into a sitting position in his little meditation nest, then gets up onto his feet. He’s a little shaky, but he’s up. He gets to the doorway and nudges the door open.

“Maggie?” Taako calls out. Nothing. “Magnus?” Still nothing.  _ Shit. _

Another one of the weird pains spirals out from Taako’s core, something that feels like cramps used to but also feels fluttery and weird and is all the more terrifying for the fact that he has  _ no  _ idea what’s going on, and he can’t find his Stone of Far Speech, and  _ nobody’s home to help him,  _ which, Jesus Christ, he’s gonna start making at least one person babysit him at all times.

“Angus?” Taako calls, because at least Angus could help him find an adult or even find a fucking chair, and maybe a book that explains what the shit is going on, or he could call Merle, but there’s no answer.  _ “Fuck!” _

He takes a step forward, but another jolt of pain goes through him and his leg goes out from under him and he barely catches himself on the doorknob.

“Taako?” someone asks, and that voice— that’s Barry, which, fine, if it’s Barry, it’s Barry. The guy’s known Taako for over a hundred years, they’ve seen each other at their worst.

Suddenly, there’s an arm under Taako’s arms, hoisting him up to his feet and taking some of his weight so he can stand better. Taako exhales, a long, slow breath.

“Taako, are you okay?” Barry asks. Taako’s definitely  _ not  _ okay, because he needs help and something is hurting him and  _ possibly  _ hurting his children, and he’s maybe panicking a  _ little  _ bit. If he loses these kids— He stops the train of thought, because he will  _ not  _ lose these kids, he’s living with Death and he’ll also do _ anything  _ to save these fucking kids, which is a new thought but also an intense one.

Instead of saying all that, Taako just shakes his head. Barry responds by saying, “Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit,” and half-carrying Taako to the living room, where he accidentally dumps him onto the sofa. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

“Shut up,” Taako says. He’s already swiftly unbuttoning his shirt — one of Magnus’, again, because they fit like comfortable dresses and they’re still big enough to fit over him — and yanking it off so he can get access to his skin. Barry hovers next to him, looking scared as shit, which fits exactly how Taako’s feeling.

“What’s going on?” Barry asks. Taako’s got his hands over the swell of his abdomen, and he’s already cast Detect Heartbeat, and all three of his children still have heartbeats, at least. They don’t seem all that affected by the pain that’s still spiraling out from deep inside his center.

“I have no idea,” Taako says. Barry darts into the kitchen and comes back with a squeezed-out damp dish towel, which he puts over Taako’s forehead. It’s blissfully cold, and Taako shuts his eyes.

“What’s it feel like?” Barry asks, and here’s Barry the Head Science Officer, ready to hypothesize and experiment and solve a problem.

“Kind of like cramps, and also like I’m dying, and I’m going to murder everyone around me while I do,” Taako tells him. Barry stares down at him, then runs for his rooms. Taako curses at his retreating back, but Barry actually returns pretty quickly with some book written in Elvish on Elven gestation.

“Where the fuck did you get that?” Taako asks. Barry’s still flipping through it quickly.

“Lup’s been reading it,” Barry tells him absently. Taako feels a swell of affection for his sister that he’ll never tell her about, because she’d kick his ass for it.

Barry finds whatever he’s looking for, and reads it quickly, then puts the book down on the coffee table.

“Can I touch you?” Barry asks. Taako scoffs.

“Barry, my dude, if you can make this stop, you can father my next child,” Taako says. Barry huffs a laugh and puts his hands on Taako’s stomach.

“Our children would be siblings and cousins,” Barry comments. Taako groans.

“Dude, that’s disgusting,” Taako says. Barry’s hands are cold on his skin, and the fluttering moves. Taako and Barry stare at each other.

“Did you fucking feel that?” Taako asks. Barry nods frantically.

“Was that your baby?” Barry asks. “I mean— fuck, of course it was,  _ fuck, fuck _ —”

“Do it again!” Taako exclaims. Barry’s hands shoot up into the air.

“I don’t know how I did it in the first place!” Barry shouts back. Another cramp starts and Taako’s head drops. He fists his hands in his own hair, and then Barry’s hands are back on him.

“I think you honestly just have cramps, but they’re bad, because your muscles are all pulling, because you’re having three babies—”

“Shut  _ up,  _ Barry,” Taako says. “Listen to me. In my bottom left cabinet, second from the fridge, there’s a bunch of jars. I need ginger, the crushed Chinese angelica root, fennel fruit jam, licorice root, cinnamon bark shards, red peony roots, pine bark, and… just regular fennel. Also my mortar and pestle. And put a kettle of water on the stove.”

“Got it,” Barry says. He jogs into the kitchen to do as Taako asks. Taako can hear him rummaging through the cabinets, and it sounds like he’s tuning his Stone of Far Speech while he does so, trying to find a channel to talk to someone on.

In his absence, Taako feels along his own skin. He goes back to the same spot Barry had felt the baby in and waits for a while. After a bit, he pushes in, just a little, and gets a fluttery little nudge back, and he inhales sharply through his teeth.

“Are you okay?” Barry asks, dumping all the jars Taako had asked for onto the coffee table. Taako withdraws his hands and sits up to start crushing his ingredients from the jars with his mortar and pestle.

“The babies are definitely moving in there,” Taako says, starting to crush roots under his hands. “Which is good, because, in, uhh, elf circles, that’s— important. Means your baby’s taken root and will probably survive until the birth.”

“Well, congrats,” Barry says. The kettle screams, and he heads back over towards it. He brings the kettle back and sets it down on a potholder, and hands Taako a mug, as well. Taako takes it, fills it with his smashed dust and juices of ingredients, and then pours the water over it.

“Is this an elf thing? Or a wizard thing? Or, like, a witchy kind of spell—” Barry starts asking, then Taako sips the tea. “Oh.”

“It’s a Taako thing,” Taako tells him. He feels his muscles start to relax with just the sip, and the pain lessens. “Well, that’s good. I’m not dying.”

“Great news,” Barry says. “Because if  _ you  _ die, I’m pretty sure Kravitz will kill  _ me.” _

“Can you die?” Taako asks, sipping his tea in earnest now.

“Don’t wanna find out,” Barry says. He sits next to Taako. “Feeling better?”

“Lil’ bit, yeah,” Taako says. “Thanks, bud. I owe you one.”

“Don’t mention it,” Barry replies. “I guess they’re like, my niecephews too.”

“Don’t call them that,” Taako tells him. He feels the fluttery feeling again, and puts one hand over it. It’s weird against his skin. He reaches out and takes Barry’s hand, putting it over his skin again so he can feel it a second time, pale white on light blue. They don’t move, barely breathing, until it happens. Barry huffs out a breathless laugh.

“That’s weird,” Barry says. Taako smacks his wrist. “No, in a good way. Good work. Nice kid.”

“You’re so fucking strange,” Taako comments. He takes another long drink from his tea. There’s silence for a little bit. Then,

“Remember when you taught me how to swim?” Barry asks. Taako glances sideways at him. Barry is looking down at his knees. “That’s still one of my favorite memories.” When Taako doesn’t say anything, too unsure and surprised to know what the right thing to say even is, Barry looks up at him. “I missed you, Taako. I’m glad we’re back together again.”

“Well, suck it up,” Taako says, touched. Barry throws an arm around him and half-hugs him. In that moment, the front door bursts open, and Magnus is standing in the doorway, breathing heavily.

“Are you okay?” Magnus demands, crossing the room to Taako in just a couple of strides and falling to his knees in front of him. His hands roam over Taako’s face, his ears, his hair, his shoulders. “What happened?”

“Nothing bad,” Taako said. “I thought I was losing— I don’t know, really, what I thought, but it hurt, but luckily Barold was here and we figured out it was just a muscle problem.” Taako sips his tea. Magnus stares at him.

“You thought you were gonna lose them?” Magnus asks, voice a little choked. Taako shakes his head.

“For, like, a second, big boy,” Taako says. “They’re totally fine. Heard their heartbeats and everything. Actually—” Taako says, and looks at Barry, “they’re more than okay, aren’t they?”

“Uhh, yes, actually,” Barry agrees. “I—  _ We,  _ I mean, we— felt them move. Kick, or something.”

Magnus stares at him, then back to Taako, then down to Taako’s abdomen. He ducks his head down and presses his ear to the swell of his belly.

“What the shit are you doing?” Taako asks. Magnus shushes him.

“Shh, I can’t hear anything,” Magnus says. Taako flicks his ear, and Magnus grins up at him. He sits up on his haunches to kiss him, and a veil is ripped into the living room, and Kravitz and Lup fall through that, and the door crashes open, and Angus and Merle come through  _ that,  _ and Taako enjoys attention but it’s just too many voices asking him what the fuck happened at once, so he shouts at them.

“Shut up!” he exclaims, and everybody goes quiet. “From now on, any and all questions will be directed to Barry, because he is the  _ only one  _ who can keep a level head.” Taako points at Barry. “From here on out, Barold, you’re my nursemaid. Sorry not sorry.”

“I’ve been doing  _ so much research,”  _ Merle says emphatically. Magnus still looks slightly thunderstruck at the sheer amount of information he’s received as he tries to tell Kravitz everything he knows, but Barry looks pleased when Taako looks to him.

“Thanks, babe,” Taako says. Barry smiles at him.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Barry says, and it is, because he said so, and Barry took care of  _ everything,  _ even while everyone  _ else  _ is losing their collective  _ shit. _


	10. Month Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kravitz laminates a schedule. Magnus disrupts the best-laid plans of the welcoming committee. Taako considers making a compromise.

When Taako gets home from the school, Magnus and Kravitz are both sitting on the sofa in the living room, talking in low tones to one another. When they see him in the doorway, they both get to their feet in the same fluid motion, but nobody says anything. Taako shuts the door behind himself.

“Hello, greeting committee,” Taako says. “To what do I owe the honor of being welcomed into my own house by the chucklefuck brigade?”

Magnus laughs. Kravitz smiles, then sighs.

“We, uhh, have something to… talk with you about, Taako,” Kravitz says. Taako looks to Magnus, because Magnus is always the easier one to squirrel information out of.

“What’s going on?” he asks, directly of Magnus. Magnus looks to Kravitz, slightly panicked. “No, I asked _you,_ Maggie. What’s going on?”

“We want you to stay home,” Magnus tells him, all in one breath. Kravitz looks at him, incredulous, and Magnus turns to him. “What! Did you see how he was looking at me? He probably already knew—”

“You couldn’t have held out for _two minutes?_ Was the speech we wrote for _nothing?”_ Kravitz asks. He turns to Taako. “We have a pros and cons list and everything. Do you wanna see it?”

“What, like, right now?” Taako asks. “Because I’m still fucking confused. I already _am_ home. What, you wanna stay in tonight? We can do that, you don’t need a fucking pros and cons list. I know you get off on that shit, Krav, but you could’ve just—”

“No, stay home for good,” Magnus says. “Like— not _forever,_ just until you, you know.” He makes a pop sound with his mouth, and a fireworks motion with his hands. Kravitz glares at him. _“What?”_

“We wrote a _speech,”_ Kravitz reminds him, apparently shocked to his core at the idea of someone forgoing a well-written speech. Taako is too angry, in that moment, to care.

“What, you want me to hang around this place for another fucking year and a half, doing nothing except growing your spawn?” Taako asks. Magnus’ brow furrows.

“It’s probably not a year and a half,” Magnus says. Taako raises both of his eyebrows at him, and Magnus breathes, “Oh, shit.”

“Elf gestation periods are _two years,”_ Taako tells him. “And I don’t know if these kids are half-human,” he says, motioning to Magnus, “or half-whatever the fuck Kravitz is,” motioning to Kravitz, “but they are _half-elf,_ so this is gonna take a while.”

“I _was_ a human,” Kravitz reminds him.

“And now you’re a skull half the time,” Taako says. He’s struck with a horrible thought, apparently at the same time as Magnus, because before he can speak, Magnus does.

“You don’t think they’ll be born, like— skeletons, right?” Magnus asks. Kravitz blanches.

“Like, born dead?” Kravitz asks, which is an _additionally_ horrible thought that Taako had never had before. He sits down heavily right there on the floor in front of the front door and puts his head in his hands.

“Taako? You okay?” Magnus asks hesitantly. The room is silent. Taako hears footsteps coming over to him, and they’re probably Kravitz’s, because Magnus has a lot more weight in each step.

“Are you okay?” Kravitz asks, suddenly right next to his ear, and Taako jumps, and the babies actually _respond_ inside of him, moving to react to the loud, unexpected sound of Kravitz’s voice, and Taako splays his hands over his stomach, and suddenly Magnus is there, and Kravitz is falling back.

“Hey, buddy, what’s going on?” Magnus asks, kneeling beside him. Taako shakes his head.

“I’m fine, they just don’t like loud noises,” Taako tells him. Or, reminds him, because they _both_ knew that, which is probably why Kravitz is hanging back and looking disproportionately ashamed of himself. Taako looks to Magnus, then jerks his chin in Kravitz’s direction. Magnus looks up at him, then back to Taako, then appears to make the decision to leave Taako there in favor of going to Kravitz.

“Hey, man, you didn’t know that would happen,” Magnus says, voice low, like they’re having this conversation separate from Taako’s presence, which, fine. Whatever makes Kravitz feel better. “I know you’re having a hard time with the whole thing, but you’re really doing a great job.”

“I scared them,” Kravitz replies. “How could I—”

“Dude, I scare them all the time,” Magnus tells him. “I scared them this morning shutting a cabinet. They’re, like, fetuses, dude. They don’t know what sounds are.”

“They like _you_ ,” Kravitz points out. Magnus shrugs.

“I’m usually not screaming at them,” Magnus says. Kravitz frowns at him. “Not that you were _screaming,_ just that it was— uhh— unexpected.”

“My heart is warm,” Taako says. They both turn to look at him like they forget he was there. “No, don’t mind me, I’m just a spectator. What a show. Bravo. Good work. Can someone help me up, now, please?”

“You know,” Magnus says, as Kravitz gets an arm under Taako’s and lifts him to his feet, “if you were a human, you’d be _having_ these babies, like, now.”

“Well, if I had them _now,_ they would not be happy,” Taako says. “They’re half-elf—”

“They’re also half- _you,_ so will they ever be happy?” Magnus says. Taako smacks his shoulder. “They’re probably not gonna be born skeletons, anyways. They have heartbeats, don’t they? And Krav doesn’t.”

Oh. “Yeah,” Taako says. “Didn’t think of that.”

“Thanks, Magnus,” Kravitz says. Magnus turns to grin at him.

“Don’t mention it,” Magnus says. “You’re awesome. You’ll be an awesome dad. Ango always says so.”

Kravitz smiles, which makes Taako feel good, and, as things tend to go when Taako feels any sort of emotion, he lets it out in some heinously disproportionate way.

“I’m glad you like each other,” Taako says, because he _does_ like seeing them interact without him sometimes, “because then, like, I know you’d be okay if anything ever happened to me.”

Kravitz looks at him in surprise. Magnus sighs.

“Nothing’s gonna happen to you, dude,” Magnus says. “This is a threebie—”

“That is _not_ what this is—” Taako interrupts, but Magnus keeps going.

“And you’re a really vital part of that, so you’re not going anywhere,” Magnus finishes.

“Yeah, elf births are usually pretty much successful,” Taako replies. “But who knows what the fuck these kids are?”

They’re all quiet. Then, Magnus says, “Half-elf?”, and Kravitz snorts.

“At least,” Taako says. He points at Kravitz, then at Magnus. Both of them are much taller than him, much broader; Magnus is mostly muscle, built like a brick shithouse, and Kravitz is strong, tall, broad, powerful even without the same amount of muscle packed on. “If your gigantic monster babies make this difficult for me, bucko, I’m gonna make _your_ lives difficult for _you.”_

“They’re definitely Kravitz’s,” Magnus says, without hesitation. Kravitz glares playfully at him.

“When they’re born with red hair, we’ll see,” Kravitz says. Taako realizes he’s never actually considered what his children are going to look like beyond, _God, I hope they don’t look like me,_ and he looks at Magnus’ and Kravitz’s faces, their features.

“Not a bad gene pool,” he says. Magnus motions at him.

“Well, hell yeah, just _look_ at you,” Magnus replies. Taako shrugs and gets closer, running a hand through Magnus’ hair. Curly hair wouldn’t be the easiest to manage, but it would be _adorable._ He looks to Kravitz, to his red eyes, his straight nose. He strokes a hand over his cheek.

“Well, look at _you,”_ Taako says in response. Kravitz raises a hand and pulls Taako’s hair free of its binding, spreading it out over his shoulders. “My babies should look like _you.”_

“If they looked exactly like you, Taako, I’d be happy,” Kravitz says. Magnus makes a waffling motion with his hand. “What?”

“If they _are_ mine, I gotta warn you, Burnsides have strong genes,” Magnus says. He motions to himself. “We all pretty much look like this.”

“My children are going to be gigantic,” Taako says. He stares at Magnus a little longer. “Well, if they’re yours, they can get things off of shelves for me.”

“They can fight like I did,” Magnus says, and Taako rears back.

 _“Hell_ no,” he says. “There’s no way in _fucking hell_ my children are going to be _fighters._ It’s bad enough Angus is out there every day, doing whatever the hell he does—”

“Reading,” Magnus supplies, at the same time Kravitz says, “Fishing, today.”

“—putting himself in danger! Hell no!” Taako stares them both down. “I’m not gonna carry these fucking kids for two years just for them to go die in battle.”

“They won’t go off to battle that _day,”_ Magnus says.

“I’m a Reaper,” Kravitz comments. “They’re not dying anytime soon.”

“Maybe they can’t even die,” Magnus adds.

“Oh, maybe,” Kravitz says. “And maybe—”

“Who even _needs_ me here!” Taako exclaims. “Once the two of you get going, jeezy creezy, it’s like I’m not even _here.”_

“I could never forget you’re here,” Kravitz tells him.

“Yeah, because you never shut up,” Magnus adds. Taako thumps him on the arm, but Magnus just keeps laughing.

“That’s most of the reason why, yes,” Kravitz allows, and Taako thumps _him,_ too.

“I’m going to make dinner, and both of you can fuck off,” Taako says. “What the fuck were we— Oh, _right,_ you were saying you want me to _stay home.”_

“Taako, you have a hard enough time getting around as it is,” Kravitz reminds him. Taako waves him off and goes to the kitchen to start making dinner. Angus has been asking for meatloaf for a little while now, and he’s the only one who hasn’t pissed Taako off today, so he’s getting meatloaf. “There’s no point in going to the school. We talked to Ren—”

 _“You talked to Ren?”_ Taako asks, whirling around. “Why should I bother doing anything, when you two _chucklefucks_ are gonna make all my decisions behind my back?”

“It wasn’t like that,” Kravitz assures him. Taako scoffs.

“We just asked her if, if you said yes— _if you said yes, Taako, stop making that face—_ if she’d be okay running the school for a little bit until you were ready to come back,” Magnus says. _“Stop making that face,_ you know I’m right.”

“I can keep working until I have these kids, that’s what everyone else does,” Taako says.

“Who the fuck is ‘everyone else’?” Magnus asks. “Far as I can see, you’re the only elf around here shitting out _three_ half-elf babies and trying to run a school at the same time.”

“Classy,” Kravitz comments. Magnus throws his arms up in the air.

“Well, it’s _true,”_ Magnus says. “I know _I’d_ feel better if I knew you weren’t at the school all the time.”

“And it’s all about what _you_ want,” Taako shoots back. Magnus shrugs. Taako turns to Kravitz. “And you agree with all this?”

“Well… yes,” Kravitz says. Taako throws _his_ hands up and spins around to start smashing the ground beef into submission. “But it’s only because I worry about you, Taako, I don’t want you to be stuck at the school if something happens, or if you overwork yourself, or—”

“That can happen _just as easily_ right here at home,” Taako says. “If I’m alone here all day, it’s probably worse, isn’t it, because then we don’t even have Ren or anyone to help me?” _Check and mate, fuckers._

“Actually,” Kravitz says, and Taako just deflates, because of _course_ Kravitz already thought of that. “We made a schedule.”

“Mother _fucker,_ you made a _schedule?”_ Taako demands. He turns to him and holds a hand out. “Show me.”

“Taako—”

 _“Show me,”_ he orders. Kravitz and Magnus look at each other, then Magnus reaches into his pocket and pulls out a glossy-looking paper. “Is this _laminated?”_

“I laminated them,” Kravitz says, because he’s _insane._ Taako snatches the schedule from Magnus and snorts at the title on top.

“‘Taako’s Fantasy Babysitters’ Club’,” he reads. He glares up at Kravitz and Magnus. “Fuck you guys.”

“Lup came up with the name,” Magnus says. Kravitz elbows him.

“Well, fuck her, too,” Taako says. He reads over the schedule. “So, I’m _never_ alone anymore?” he asks, even though he kind of really _wants_ that. He hates being alone. It’s kind of exciting to know they’ve worked out a way to make sure he’ll never _be_ alone.

“It’s probably for the best,” Kravitz says.

“Besides, we’ll only use it if you say yes,” Magnus tells him. “If you say no, we won’t.”

Taako glares at them. “I don’t want to stop working.”

“Okay,” Kravitz says.

“And I don’t want to be trapped in this house all the time.”

“Alright,” Magnus agrees. Taako keeps glaring at them, then sighs.

“I _should_ keep working,” Taako says, but at the sound of his tone, Magnus grins and turns to Kravitz, who’s also looking delighted. “I _definitely_ should keep working.”


	11. Month Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus issues a challenge that Kravitz can't back down from. Taako fights dirty. There's a lovely wedding.

Taako stops working.

Magnus and Kravitz were right, not that Taako  _ ever _ says that to them. Taako can’t keep going to the school at the size he’s at, especially because he’s exhausted and dizzy all the time in addition. Taako also loves the schedule, because it means he’s never by himself, which he  _ also  _ never says to them.

Instead of going to the school, Taako starts a garden and fills it with fruits and vegetables and herbs. He takes up sewing and starts making clothes for Lup and Angus. He finds a whole host of new hobbies to keep him occupied. When Merle’s with him, he gardens. When Angus is with him, he teaches him spells. When Lup is with him, they shoot the shit, mostly, and sometimes they’ll cook. When Barry is with him, they’ve been trying to learn needlepoint. When Magnus is with him, he tries to teach Taako sleight of hand, thieves’ tricks he learned from Carey. When Kravitz is with him, he tells him all sorts of insane stories from his long, long life while he braids, and re-braids, and re-braids Taako’s hair.

Taako hasn’t gotten bored yet. He feels needy, but nobody’s acting like they’re sick of him just yet, so he’ll just keep taking until they stop giving.

Today, Taako is sitting with Barry while they finish up Taako’s dress for Carey and Killian’s wedding, which is later this afternoon. They’re just finishing up the hem — or, Taako is, while Barry is finishing his embroidery near the neck. It’s a dark blue dress, and Barry’s embroidery is gold, and it’s got a nice slit up one leg, and a flattering neckline. Taako almost wishes they didn’t have to make it a maternity dress so he could wear it after all this was done, but he can always just make another, he supposes.

“Lup’s looks kinda like this,” Taako comments absently. He’d finished Lup’s dress a couple of days before. “Except it’s shorter and more… reddish? It’s a, like,  _ deep  _ red. I think it looks hot on her but she’s not sure.”

“I’m sure it looks great,” Barry says, not looking up. His face is a little red. Taako raises an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, buddy? You sure it does?” Taako asks. Barry nods, still keeping his face down. “Hey. Barold.  _ Hey.  _ You having lusty thoughts about my twin sister?”

Barry’s face gets redder. He still doesn’t look up. “No.”

“Liar.”

“Maybe.”

“What’re you doing to Barry?” Lup asks as she comes in from the door to their rooms. She leans in the doorway in the aforementioned dress Taako made her, and Barry looks up, then sighs before he seems to be able to stop himself. Taako cackles as Barry’s face gets even  _ redder. _

“I called him a liar because he said he wasn’t having lusty thoughts about you,” Taako tells her. Barry turns to scowl at him.

“You don’t have to tell her  _ everything,”  _ Barry says. Taako scoffs.

“Hell yeah, I do, homie,” Taako says. “What the fuck else would I do?”

“You said you weren’t having lusty thoughts about me?” Lup says, frowning at him. She gets a little closer. Barry watches her warily. “You don’t think my dress looks nice?”

“Uhh—” Barry says, because the question from anyone  _ else  _ has an easy answer, but it’s incredibly likely Lup is tricking him. “It’s… really nice.”

“Taako made it for me,” Lup says. She leans in and whispers something in his ear, and Barry’s face is almost purple, and he refuses to look at Taako’s face. Lup pulls back and says, “You  _ really  _ weren’t having lusty thoughts about me?”

“I might’ve been,” Barry says, and Lup cackles, just like Taako. Barry groans.

“Called you on it,” Taako says.  _ “Liar.” _

“Of course he was lying, goofus, I look  _ bomb,”  _ Lup replies. She spins in her dress and it flares. “Thanks, bro. You got my best angles.”

“All your angles are your best angles, dipshit,” Taako tells her. Lup leans over Barry’s shoulder to look at his embroidery.

“That’s really nice,” Lup comments. “I think this is gonna look great on you. Too bad it’s a maternity dress. But I guess you can always make a second one.”

“I thought the same thing,” Taako says, needle between his teeth as he pulls the thread taut and snips it. “Done down here. Barry?”

“Almost,” Barry tells him. A couple more moments, and he’s wrapping up, too, then snapping out the dress to show Lup and Taako his detailing. It goes from the shoulder, trickles down the throat and the collar, over the hip and down the slit in the leg. It’s great work, especially since they’re both still just starting out on this stuff.

“Looks amazing, Bar,” Lup comments. She kisses him on the temple. “Will you come help me pick out which shoes to wear with this?”

“Sure thing,” Barry says. “You need any help, Taako?”

“Nah, homie, I’m good, thanks, though,” Taako says. He gets up and starts stripping off the clothes he’d been wearing while Lup leads Barry out of the room. He’s got the dress on in record time, using magic to zip up the back of it, and he’s heading towards the bathroom to look in the mirror at it when Magnus sticks his head out of their bedroom.

“Hey, can you help me tie my— Hey,” he says, cutting himself off. He opens their door wider and looks Taako over. “That’s a really nice dress. That the one you and Barry have been working on?”

“Yeah,” Taako says, smoothing down the front. It’s snug material, clings tight to his skin. Magnus steps forward, closer to him. “Do you like it?”

“Hell, yeah,” Magnus says. He reaches out, then stops. “Can I touch you?”

“Just don’t rip the seams, big guy,” Taako says. Magnus places a hand at the center of his belly, then runs his palm along to his hip, then up to his waist.

“Nice material,” Magnus says, softly, his voice a little choked. Taako steps in closer, but he can’t get as close as he’d like, since he’s got fucking kids in the way now. Magnus seems to get the hint and puts his other hand up into Taako’s hair, gripping it at the crown and pulling Taako in for a kiss. There’s a crack in the hallway, but it’s so familiar that Taako doesn’t even break the kiss to look at Kravitz.

“I thought we had a wedding to go to,” Kravitz says. Magnus pulls away first to look at him.

“Taako finished his dress,” Magnus says. Taako turns and shows Kravitz the front of the dress, spinning a little to show it off. Kravitz looks at his leg, then back up at his face.

“I understand now,” Kravitz says. He’s already got his tie tied, Taako notices. He points to Magnus.

“Can you help him tie his tie while I go fix my hair?” Taako asks. Kravitz nods, then steps forward and kisses Taako, deep, both hands at his back, nearly bowing him with the ferocity of his kiss. Taako, for his part, frames Kravitz’s face with his hands and holds on, surprised and then immediately twice as horny as he was thirty seconds ago. Kravitz lets him go, after a bit, and steps back, the back of his hand against his mouth.

“Sorry, just—  _ Wow,”  _ Kravitz says. Taako laughs.

“I’ll be sure to tell Barry his embroidery was appreciated,” Taako says. Kravitz grins.

“It’s mostly your rocking fucking ass in it, but okay,” Magnus comments. Kravitz snorts, which he doesn’t do often, but which always makes Magnus laugh when he does. “Just gonna walk around looking like that and not expect us to do anything about it? Dingus.”

“We have to go to  _ your  _ best friend’s wedding,” Taako reminds him, like he’s not 90% ready to shove both of them back into their bedroom right  _ now.  _ “Save yourself.”

“Guess we’ll just have to wait until after the wedding, then,” Magnus says. Taako squints his eyes at him, because he knows a Magnus Burnsides challenge when he sees one.

“Oh, you’re on,” Taako says. He steps forward and kisses Magnus, reeling him in by his open button-down, sticking his tongue down his throat and pressing as much of his body as he can manage into Magnus’. He pulls back once Magnus reaches out to touch him in return, and moves to Kravitz instead, tangling his fingers up in Kravitz’s hair and kissing him just as hard, just as deep. Kravitz sighs into his mouth.

“You in on the game, bone daddy?” Taako whispers against his lips once he pulls back. Kravitz nods, so Taako slides out of his hands. “Then I’m going to  _ win.” _

“Hell no, you won’t, your hormones are all over the place,” Magnus says. He sounds confident, which is  _ just  _ enough to ensure that Taako will do anything and everything to ensure he wins, no matter the casualties.

“We’ll see,” Taako says, then continues, “Loser has to help me pack for vacation next week,” and continues to the bathroom. He uses the Stone of Far Speech they keep on the sink in there to call to Lup, who Blinks into the room almost immediately.

“What’s up?” Lup asks, leaning against the counter.

“I have to look the  _ hottest  _ I have  _ ever  _ looked or I lose a bet,” Taako tells her. Lup immediately grins, then opens the door to the bathroom.

“Barry!” she shouts down the hall. “Can you come here, please?”

Kravitz sticks his head out of their bedroom and watches as Barry jogs by. Barry slows near him.

“Sorry about whatever this is,” Barry says, then keeps going. Lup sticks her tongue out at Kravitz, then slams the bathroom door shut.

“I need help tying my tie!” Angus calls from his room. Taako listens and hears Kravitz go to help him, so he turns to Barry instead.

“You need to help me look hot,” Taako says.

“Uhh,” Barry says. He looks at Lup. “I don’t know what I’m good for here.”

“Gotta be the judge,” Lup says. “Red-blooded male has to have final say.”

“If you say so,” Barry says, sitting down on the edge of the bathtub. “Do you want music?”

_ “Do we want music?”  _ Lup repeats, scoffing. “You know me better than that, baby.”

Barry turns on music, and Lup sets to work. Taako’s hair is naturally wavy, so she lightly curls it while Taako works on his makeup. A little while into their work, there’s a knock at the bathroom door.

“Who is it?” Lup asks.

“It’s me,” Angus says. Lup opens the door and looks down at him.

“What’s up, little man?” she asks. Angus peeks around her at Taako.

“Magnus told me to tell you you can’t use Disguise Self,” Angus says. “I don’t know what for. He just said he wants you to look like you.”

“Aw,” Lup says. “That sweet, sweet moron.” She turns back to Angus. “Tell him we won’t. I wouldn’t let Taako anyways.”

“Hey, nobody  _ lets  _ me do anything,” Taako protests, but he’s ignored. Lup hands Angus one of the fantasy Oreos she’d made Barry run and grab halfway through her curling.

“That’s for you,” Lup says. “You look great, by the way. Proper little gentleman. Love it. Bye.” She shuts the door. Taako looks at her in the mirror, and Lup smiles at him. “Great kid you got there.”

“Good work,  _ Aunt Lup,” _ Taako says. Lup snorts and gets back to work on his hair while Taako gets back to his makeup. Barry hums along to the music and picks apart fantasy Oreos in Taako’s peripheral vision, but he looks away when Lup asks him to. She picks up the shoes she’d brought for Taako to wear and helps him into them, then stands him upright, shaking out his hair and dotting away a smudge in his lipstick.

“Okay, you can look,” Lup says. Barry turns back to them and whistles.

“You look great, Taako,” Barry says. Lup rolls her eyes.

“But do you want to fuck him?” Lup asks. Barry blinks at her.

“Uhh,” he says. “No? I don’t.”

“If you weren’t stupidly committed to me, I mean,” Lup amends. “Be honest.”

“Uhh,” Barry says again. “I… guess.”

“Gonna have to do better than that,” Lup replies. “Picture it on me, if it helps, straighty.”

Barry blushes a little, but he looks Taako over with a little more scrutiny. “I think a darker red might be good for his lips, but otherwise it’s great.”

Lup looks at Taako’s face. “Yeah, actually, I agree.” She cleans his mouth and reapplies lipstick, this time in a red closer to burgundy, then turns him back around. “How about now?”

“Looks nice,” Barry says.

“Would you want those lips around your dick?” Lup asks. Taako chokes on a laugh.

“Jeezy creezy, Lulu,” Taako says, as Barry just stares at her, then at Taako. After a moment, he sighs.

“We’re way too close,” Barry says, then continues, “Yeah, I guess I would.”

“Good,” Lup says, as she turns and puts the same lipstick on her own lips. She winks at Barry in the mirror.

“I’m still fucking here,” Taako says. Lup looks at him, raising an eyebrow.

“And? He wants us to suck his dick, Koko,” Lup says. Barry sputters. Taako looks down at him.

“Please don’t,” Barry says.

“No worries,” Taako replies. Barry huffs a laugh. “Of course I’m not gonna smudge my lipstick  _ now.” _

Barry chokes on his bite of fantasy Oreo as Lup cackles to herself at the mirror.

“Go show yourself off and make sure Angus is ready,” Lup tells Taako. “I’ll be ready in a minute.”

“Okay,” Taako replies. He glares at Barry. “We have to leave in  _ five minutes,  _ Barold, do you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, bud,” Barry replies. Taako glares at him a second longer, then leaves the bathroom. He’s not expecting Kravitz, Magnus, and Angus to be in the hallway already, but they are; luckily, they’re facing away from him, so he has a second to arrange himself before they turn to look at him. Kravitz just stares at him. Magnus’ whole face goes red.

“You look lovely, sir,” Angus says. Taako comes over to him and pats him on the head.

“Thanks, pumpkin,” Taako says. He takes Angus’ hand in his, even though Angus is definitely old enough to take care of himself, just because he’d realized a couple of months back that Angus likes it. “You ready to go? Your tie looks good.”

“Mr. Kravitz tied it for me,” Angus says. Taako looks up at Kravitz.

“You’re so good with your hands,” Taako says. Kravitz just keeps silently staring at him.

“I don’t want to be involved in your weird games, sir,” Angus comments. Taako laughs.

“Don’t worry, Ango-tango, you’re not,” Taako tells him. “It was just too good not to pass up.” Taako squeezes his hand. “You got your book in your bag?”

“Yes, sir,” Angus says. He’s always got his little messenger bag on him these days, and Taako figured the wedding would probably be kind of boring for him. Taako holds up his lipstick.

“Mind if I store this in there?” he asks. Angus smiles, nods, takes the tube from him and puts it in the front pocket of his bag. Taako smoothes Angus’ hair back from his face, trying to pat it into place.

“Good kid,” Taako comments. He looks up at Kravitz and Magnus, and isn’t really expecting  _ this  _ interaction to have affected them at all.

“You fight  _ dirty,”  _ Magnus hisses. Taako’s genuinely bewildered.

“I literally don’t know what you’re talking about,” Taako replies. Angus looks equal parts confused and disgusted.

“Don’t involve me,” Angus repeats, to Magnus this time.

“Don’t worry, Ango, I won’t,” Magnus assures him, even though he’s still looking at Taako, and Taako realizes, all at once,  _ ahh.  _ Magnus apparently gets off a little on watching Taako be a fucking  _ dad. _ Taako releases Angus’ hand and goes over to Magnus, tugs his collar a little to get his head down to his level. He puts his lips next to his ear, then takes his hands and guides them to the swell of his stomach.

“I’ve figured you out,” Taako whispers, so low only Magnus can hear. Magnus shivers, then Taako pulls back entirely out of Magnus’ reach. Kravitz is easy; he’s always had a thing for Taako’s hair, his skin, and, for some reason, his thighs, all of which are pretty much on display right now. Between what he wants and what Magnus wants, Taako’s got this night down  _ cold. _

“Ready to go?” Lup asks, hooking her earrings into her ears. Taako, briefly, envies that of her; his ears were always too sensitive for jewelry. She looks stunning, as always, and Barry looks rattled just standing next to her, but he’s always a fucking sap. Taako reaches out and takes Angus’ hand again.

“Let’s roll,” Taako says. Kravitz picks up his scythe and cuts a rip in the hallway, motioning everyone through it before he cuts the next rip right outside the temple overlooking the sea, ready for Carey and Killian’s wedding, the final culminating point of that part of their lives, of everything they’ve worked for to this point.

* * *

It’s strange, Taako considers to himself, as the reception starts in earnest. It’s strange, because everyone keeps saying that this is the end of everything they’ve done, that they’ve all worked towards this day specifically after everything, but it’s really been… this day feels more like the  _ start  _ of something. Like they can finally let go of all the bullshit they’ve had to deal with and move on. They can live happy, normal lives, and get married, and have fucking babies, and live on a fucking cliff and make a school and be  _ happy.  _ They can just be  _ happy. _

“You,” Magnus says behind him, almost startling Taako, “are the most beautiful elf I have  _ ever  _ seen. Have I ever told you that?”

“Actually, I don’t think so,” Taako replies. Magnus’ hands are on his hips. “Feel free to tell me again anytime, though.”

“You’re the most beautiful elf I’ve ever seen,” Magnus repeats. His lips are suddenly on Taako’s neck, and Taako shivers.

“What’s with the change of pace?” Taako asks. “Not that I’m saying no.”

“I had to talk to Carey before the wedding,” Magnus says. “Just made me think about stuff.”

“Good think?” Taako asks. Magnus hums against his skin.

“Very good,” Magnus says. Taako looks up and makes eye contact with Kravitz, who’s dancing with Lup as she laughs her head off. Kravitz smiles at him, and the sight of him with Lup makes Taako genuinely happy.

“I still want to win this,” Taako says. Magnus hums again.

“You win,” Magnus tells him. “I’ll win next time, so, really, it doesn’t matter.”

“You  _ won’t  _ win next time,” Taako scoffs. Magnus laughs.

“We’ll see,” he says. “Wanna dance?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” Taako answers. He’s already danced with Angus and Lup and Barry and Merle, but not Magnus or Kravitz. Magnus takes him by the hand and leads him out to the area being used as a dance floor. A slow song has only just started. Taako looks over to see Lup is still dancing with Kravitz in some slow waltz he’s trying to show her the steps of. Magnus pulls Taako in and leads him into a soft dance. It’s nothing complicated, and Taako lays his head on Magnus’ shoulder.

“Fucking love you, dude,” Magnus says.

“That’s gay,” Taako replies. “Love you, too.”

“Nice,” Magnus says. Taako laughs. Magnus has one hand on the small of Taako’s back, the other wrapped around one of Taako’s hands. He spins him gently. It’s more than Taako ever thought to ask of him. He turns his head and looks at their lifted joined hands, tan skin wrapped around light blue. He sighs. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Taako says. Magnus lets his hand go and stops their dance, tips Taako’s face up and kisses him deeply. Taako moans,  _ very  _ softly, into his mouth, and Magnus smiles against his lips.

“If this was still a competition,” Magnus whispers, “I’d be winning.”

“You fucking suck,” Taako whispers back, and then a hand taps him on the shoulder. He glances back to see Kravitz.

“Can I cut in?” he asks, and Magnus passes Taako off to him. Kravitz seems more intent on actual dancing, so Taako takes the time to let Kravitz show him the steps. It’s a closer waltz than he’d been doing with Lup, and Taako finds himself pressed up against Kravitz for most of it.

“This doesn’t seem as classy as I thought it was,” Taako comments, when Kravitz’s hand roams down his back, cool touch growing lukewarm from contact with Taako’s skin. “More sensual.”

“Movement is sensual,” Kravitz murmurs back. “Dancing is sensual. Mostly,  _ you  _ are sensual.” He reaches up, strokes Taako’s hair behind his ear. “What did Magnus say to you?”

“Said I won,” Taako tells him. “He said he’ll win next time, but that I won tonight.”

“There’s three players,” Kravitz reminds him. Taako frowns at him.

“You still in?” Taako asks. Kravitz looks over his head, presumably at Magnus, then back down at Taako.

“I still think I can win,” Kravitz says. Taako grins.

“Oh, then, it’s  _ on,”  _ Taako says, because if there’s one thing Magnus loves more than a challenge, it’s when he gets to tag-team with Taako on a challenge, because the two of them together are fucking  _ unbeatable. _

* * *

Taako is half-tired after the reception finally ends, and Carey and Killian leave, and everyone else goes home. He stayed behind with everyone else from their house to help clean up. Barry and Lup are taking Merle home, since he’s basically unconscious. Once everything’s clean and everyone else is gone, Taako finds Angus, sprawled across several chairs, asleep, his book dangling from his loosened fingers.

“Hey,” he calls softly behind him. Magnus and Kravitz come over to him. Magnus grins.

“Aw, the little dingus,” Magnus comments. He slips the book out of Angus’ hands and hoists him up into his arms. Taako kneels to pack Angus’ bag back up, and Kravitz takes it from his hands before he rips a hole in thin air with his scythe and helps Taako step through it. They’re back in their house in no time, and Taako follows Magnus to Angus’ room while Kravitz goes to start taking off his suit.

“Hey,” Taako says, as Magnus sets Angus down on his bed and Taako starts untying the boy’s shoes. Magnus looks up at him. “Kravitz said he’s still in.”

Magnus’ whole face lights up. “Oh,  _ did  _ he?”

“He did,” Taako says. He’s finally slipped off Angus’ shoes, and gets his belt and jacket off before tucking him into bed and pulling up the covers. “I think we can beat him if we tag-team.”

“Oh,  _ hell yes,”  _ Magnus whispers. He holds up his fist, and Taako presses his knuckles to Magnus’, and they both make it explode. They shut off Angus’ light and close his door quietly. Magnus turns to Taako and looks him over.

“You look fucking amazing,” Magnus says. He ducks his head down and presses his lips to Taako’s, kissing him firmly. He bites Taako’s lip, and Taako moans before he can stop himself, so Magnus tangles his fingers in Taako’s hair, pulling lightly. By the time he lets go, Taako already feels a little messy. Magnus looks him over again, then reaches in and slides one sleeve down to reveal Taako’s shoulder.

“There you go,” Magnus says. “That’ll be a good start.”

“In it to win it, Mango, I knew there was a reason I love you,” Taako says. Magnus kisses his forehead, then heads back towards their room. He heads in and starts stripping right away, and Taako lingers in the doorway, looking at Kravitz until Kravitz looks back. When he does, he looks away, then back again in a subtle double-take. His eyes do rake over Taako’s face, his bitten lip, and his shoulder, just like Magnus knew he would.  _ Damn. _

“You look… good,” Kravitz says. Taako smiles.

“Thanks,” he replies. He turns to Magnus. “Help unzip me?”

“Sure,” Magnus says. He comes over, puts one huge hand on Taako’s bare shoulder, and slowly unzips the dress. He leans in and kisses the nape of his neck once he’s done. “Sure you wanna take it off?”

“Why?” Taako asks. Magnus shrugs behind him.

“Just think it might be nice to eat you out while you’ve still got it on,” Magnus says, and Taako feels a surge of heat between his legs, and he looks up at Kravitz, who’s staring at the two of them.

“Good idea, big boy,” Taako says. Magnus walks him to the bed and lets Taako climb on and scoot back until his back’s against the pillows before he crawls up after him. Kravitz is still half-undressed by the door, watching them both. He absentmindedly reaches over and closes the door. Taako watches him to see him white-knuckle the doorknob as Magnus rucks the dress up over Taako’s thighs and ducks his head down.

Magnus uses his teeth — he’s good at that — to get Taako’s underwear down. He hooks his fingers in the band once they’re down to Taako’s knees and tugs them the rest of the way off, then gets right back between Taako’s legs, the dress pushed up around his hips. He drops his head down and gets to work, mouth closing over Taako’s clit, and Taako groans, the sound punched out of him. Kravitz starts shucking clothes like it’s his  _ job. _

“Don’t get on this bed until you say we win,” Taako says, and Kravitz freezes, one hand on the mattress. Magnus doesn’t lift his head, but Taako knows he heard him, because he gets his hand between them and slips one finger into Taako. Taako bites his lip and lets his head fall back. Kravitz lifts his hand off the mattress. Magnus’ other hand traces up Taako’s thigh, then squeezes, blunt nails biting into soft blue skin. Kravitz just keeps watching them, completely naked at the side of the bed, looking torn.

“Say I win,” Taako tells him. Kravitz looks at him.

“No,” Kravitz replies. Taako shrugs.

“Suit yourself,” he says, then buries one hand in Magnus’ hair. Magnus takes the cue and adds another finger, and Taako sighs, a long, breathy thing. Magnus has always been good with his mouth, and with how Taako has been feeling today, it probably won’t take long to get his first orgasm out of him. Magnus knows that, too, Taako can tell, because he’s trying to make it last for Taako, bless his heart. Taako makes eye contact with Magnus, gets his other hand up into his own hair and  _ pulls,  _ arching his back so his neck is exposed and he almost shoves himself into Magnus’ face. Magnus moans against his clit. Kravitz is already rock-hard against his own stomach.

“You can join us if you say we win,” Taako reminds him. Kravitz shakes his head. “Okay, fine by me. I’d love to have you over here, though.” He pushes his hair back from his face. He knows how Kravitz likes it. “You’ve got such good hands. You give Magnus a run for his money.” In protest to that, Magnus crooks his fingers inside Taako, and Taako bites his own lip, moaning softly. “Ahh, shit. Maybe not right now, though.”

“Mm,” Magnus says, kind of, the sound vibrating against Taako’s core. Taako moans again. Kravitz can’t stop staring, it seems.

“Come over here, Krav, baby,” Taako says. “Please?”

“You always win,” Kravitz says, but Taako can almost  _ see  _ his resolve cracking. Just then, Magnus does  _ something  _ with his mouth at the same time he adds a third finger, and Taako’s coming without warning. Magnus is, as always, a champ about it, licks him through it, then kisses up, over the swell of his belly, over his chest, right to his throat.

“Hey, Maggie,” Taako breathes, once he’s able to speak. “Wanna fuck me?”

_ “Hell  _ yes,” Magnus agrees. He’s already unbuttoning his dress pants and shoving them down, and he’s rock-hard, too, but  _ he’s _ already conceded so _ he _ can do something about it. He lines them up, then looks at Taako’s face. Taako nods, and Magnus pushes in, all the way to the hilt, and Taako shuts his eyes tight and sighs again, higher this time, unable to control it.

“You feel so fucking good,” Magnus tells him. He stops, just for a second, and looks over his shoulder at Kravitz. “Please?”

Kravitz looks at him, wild-eyed. He doesn’t answer, so Magnus just turns back around and starts fucking Taako in earnest. Taako tries to keep quiet, and Magnus reaches up, pushes his thumb over Taako’s lips, then snakes his hand into his hair, pulling it back from his face. He traces down, fingers lingering over Taako’s throat, then keeps going to grab Taako’s hip hard enough to bruise, like he knows Taako likes. Taako groans, raising his hips to meet Magnus’ thrusts. Taako looks past Magnus to Kravitz.

“C’mere, baby,” Taako says, and Kravitz has a split second of hesitation before he moves, climbing onto the bed beside Taako. “Say it.”

“You win,” Kravitz says. “But I’m gonna win next time.”

“Already got dibs,” Magnus says, punctuating his statement with a hard shove into Taako. Taako smiles up at Kravitz.

“It’s true, he did,” Taako tells him. “Say it again.”

“You win,” Kravitz repeats. “Now,  _ please.” _

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” Taako says, and he reaches out and wraps one fine blue hand around Kravitz’s dick, and does his best to jerk him off while Magnus was shaking him with his thrusts. Kravitz actually comes first, but Magnus is soon after, shuddering over Taako and burying his face in his stomach. Kravitz is horizontal next to him, looking all over Taako’s face. Taako lifts his hand and licks a finger.

“Gross,” Taako says. Kravitz reaches over him and grabs a tissue from the bedside table, cleaning his hand off for him.

“You done, Taako?” Magnus asks. Taako laughs.

“My hero,” Taako says. “I could go again, but I don’t need to.”

“I want to,” Kravitz says, stopping Magnus from dropping his head again. Kravitz leans over Taako, puts one hand between his legs and gets his fingers into him, easy. He gets three in without even needing to try, and he gets his thumb over Taako’s clit, and it doesn’t take long to work him over the edge, Taako’s reedy gasps getting quicker and quicker until he stops breathing all together. Magnus curls up next to him, one hand tracing lazy patterns into Taako’s stomach, while Kravitz threads the fingers of his clean hand through Taako’s hair.

“I think what’s important to remember here is I’m the winner and I’m  _ always  _ the winner and I’ll always  _ be  _ the winner for the rest of time,” Taako comments, still a little breathy. Kravitz tugs on his hair a little. Magnus huffs a laugh.

“I love you a whole-ass lot,” Magnus says.

“Gay,” Taako replies. Kravitz kisses the side of his head.

“Same,” Kravitz adds.

“Still gay when you say it,” Taako tells him. Eventually, Magnus gets up to get them a washcloth, and Kravitz finishes undressing Taako from his tight dress, and they curl up under the covers with Taako between them. Taako feels like a  _ winner. _


	12. Month Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako asks for help. Magnus remembers what real strength is. Barry is not a healer.

Taako is going to fucking _kill_ Magnus.

He’d woken up feeling a little uncomfortable, but the slight discomfort had escalated to full-blown pain sometime during breakfast, and now Taako can’t even actually make it back to their bedroom by himself, so Barry just helped him to the sofa and now everyone is hovering and Magnus won’t _shut the fuck up._

“What _is_ this?” Magnus says, looking desperately at Barry, like Barry’s some fucking magic elf doctor. Taako doesn’t say anything this time, because he’s got a sharp, squeezing pain spiraling up from his abdomen, and it’s taking literally all his concentration to just breathe instead of screaming. “What do we do?”

“I don’t _know,”_ Barry says, _again,_ because he didn’t get any more fucking knowledgeable in the last thirty seconds. Lup is already calling Merle on her Stone of Far Speech while Angus has run into town to see if there are any physicians or healers around. Kravitz has one freezing-cold hand on Taako’s forehead, and it’s literally the only thing keeping Taako from killing everyone in the room, and then himself.

“What do we do?” Magnus asks, his voice _way_ too close. Taako opens his eyes and Magnus’ face is _right there._

He might kill Magnus first.

“Leave me the fuck _alone,”_ Taako spits at him. The pain stops for a moment, and he relaxes back against the couch. He drags Kravitz’s hand over the middle of his face; his fingertips lightly stroke along his jaw. _Kravitz_ is being calm. _Kravitz_ isn’t freaking out in the _least._ If _Taako’s_ freaking out, _somebody_ needs to be keeping a level head. Luckily, they have Kravitz.

“Hey, bro, what’s it feel like?” Lup asks, still holding the Stone of Far Speech up to her head. He scowls at her.

“Hey, Lulu, it feels like my fucking insides are getting squeezed out, so if he can get here the fuck _now,_ that’d be absolutely peachy,” Taako says to her, a little choked, because partway through the sentence the pain kicks up again. Taako reaches up and grabs Kravitz’s hand, clutches it between his own. Kravitz puts his other hand over Taako’s forehead and lets him crush the other one.

“Can I get anything?” Magnus asks. Taako looks up at him. Barry edges away, just until he’s out of Taako’s line of sight.

“Magnus, buddy, if you don’t stop doing what you’re doing, I’m gonna lock you in the bathroom until they’re born,” Taako tells him. Magnus just stares down at him with that same wild-eyed expression he’s had since Taako nearly collapsed eating breakfast.

“That day just might be today,” Barry comments. Taako’s attention snaps to him. “Jesus Christ—”

“Barry, there is no way in _hell_ I am having these kids today, so you can just _shut your mouth,”_ Taako snaps. Kravitz squeezes his hand, and Taako looks up at him. The pain recedes again. Kravitz strokes his hair back from his face.

“You’re going to be alright,” Kravitz says, softly. “Okay? I promise. It’ll be okay.”

Taako looks up at him, then nods, not trusting his voice, because he can feel prickling in his nose and at the backs of his eyes. Kravitz strokes down his face, up one of his ears. Taako sighs and shuts his eyes, turning into his hand. It’s quiet for a little bit, but then the pain starts up again, and Taako pulls his knees up and buries his face in a couch cushion and lets himself cry through this one, because it just hurts so _fucking_ much. Kravitz keeps stroking his hand over his ear, through his hair, down to his face, over his forehead. Taako clings to his other hand like a lifeline.

“I found Merle!” Angus announces from the doorway. Taako groans.

“Couldn’t’ve found a healer?” Taako asks, voice muffled by the cushions.

“Ha-ha,” Merle deadpans. “I see you’ve still got your sense of humor.”

“You’d be surprised,” Barry says. Merle’s flesh hand lands on Taako’s shoulder, easing him onto his back gently. Kravitz wipes away the tears from his face. Magnus is behind Merle, looking down at him, and he looks like he’s near tears himself.

“The way Lup described these to me, sounds like you might be having these kids,” Merle told him. “But we can check. Or someone can check, if you’re not comfortable with me—”

“Kravitz,” Taako says, before Merle can even finish talking. He looks up at Kravitz, who looks a little startled. “Baby. Love of my life. Monster who did this to me. Please. I don’t know what he wants to do, but can you do it?”

Kravitz strokes Taako’s hair back from his face again, then says, “Of course I can.”

Barry takes Angus and immediately goes to the kitchen while Merle talks Kravitz through what he has to do, and then Kravitz ducks his head down and Taako feels his cold fingers on him. Magnus is still hovering over him. Taako wants to punch his big dumb face.

“Hey, you’re doing great,” Lup says, crouching down next to him on his other side. She lays one hand on his face, thumb rubbing in circles over his cheekbone. _“So_ good, little bro. You’re doing awesome.”

“I feel like shit,” Taako tells her. Lup nods.

“Yeah, I think you’re gonna,” Lup says.

“I’m not having these kids today,” Taako says.

“Hell no,” Lup agrees. “They’re on _your_ schedule. Don’t know what the fuck they’re thinking, pulling this shit.”

“They are _your_ kids,” Barry says behind him. Taako picks up the closest loose item — a pillow off the couch — and flings it behind himself, and hears Barry let out an _oof_. “How the fuck did you even—”

“Are you feeling okay?” Magnus asks, leaning over the back of the sofa. From this angle, he looks like a giant. He also still looks like he might cry. Taako glares up at him.

“I’m not feeling fucking _okay,_ your gigantic children are trying to rip my insides out, homie,” Taako replies. Magnus’ face crumples. “Oh, Jesus, Maggie, I—”

Kravitz’s hand leaves his body, and the pain starts back up again at the same time, and Taako grabs Lup’s hand and turns his face back into the couch cushions and gasps his way through it, trying his best not to let the gasps become sobs and mostly failing miserably. Lup scratches lightly along his scalp, saying something softly that Taako can’t make out over the roaring in his ears. When the pain subsides, Taako can hear Merle and Kravitz speaking in low tones tear his ankles.

“Wanna share with the fucking class?” Taako asks. They both look up at him.

“You’re not having these kids right now,” Merle tells him. Taako furrows his brow.

“Uhh— What? I mean, I don’t _want_ to, but I thought—”

“It’s false labor,” Merle tells him. Taako scoffs. “It’s like, uhh, a practice labor. Your body’s gonna do it. Usually it doesn’t hurt so much.”

“Fuck you,” Taako says. “This hurts so _fucking_ much.”

“Yeah, well, there’s always an outlier,” Merle says. “This’ll probably keep happening until you actually have ‘em. Not, like, all the time. But just so you know. And now Kravitz can check for you, and you don’t have to wake me up and have Angus drag me over here at dawn to look at your junk.”

“It’s eleven o’clock, sir,” Angus pipes up. Taako holds up a hand and Angus high-fives it.

“Roast him, little man,” Taako says.

“Thank you for coming down,” Kravitz says to Merle. Merle’s already waving him off and going to make himself a plate of food in the kitchen. Kravitz turns back to Taako. “I don’t know how you willed this into existence, but you’re not having any babies today.”

“God is real and she is merciful,” Taako breathes. Lup squeezes his hand. “Wait— Merle, what the fuck do I do about this shit? Can I stop it?”

“Not really,” Merle calls back to him. “Hekuba went through the same thing. Sometimes walking helps, but sometimes laying down helps. Definitely drink water. She used to do some fucking— yoga thing. She called ‘em ‘relaxation exercises.’ I didn’t get it.”

“You’re so fucking helpful,” Taako says. “Doing exact opposite things will help, drink water, do fucking _yoga.”_

“Hey, did you make this, Taako?” Merle asks, apparently just completely ignoring everything he’s saying in favor of lifting up a muffin. “Because it’s really great, good work.”

“I’m gonna kill that old man,” Taako says to Lup. “Really. I’ll do it.”

“Are you feeling better?” Magnus asks above his head. Taako doesn’t take his eyes off Lup.

“Magnus is first, though,” he says, and Lup laughs. Taako looks up at Magnus.

“Fucking _no,”_ Taako says, and Magnus reaches down to brush his hair back for him, and Taako graciously lets him. The pain starts again in that moment, and Taako grabs his wrist, turning his face into his broad palm as he tries and fails to keep evenly breathing through the pain. Magnus’ other hand comes down and rubs big circles into his back. When the pain stops, and Taako looks up, Magnus looks just as pained as he feels. Taako has _no_ idea what to do with that. Magnus has been _so fucking overprotective,_ and it’s clear that just about everything drives him nuts, and it’s getting on Taako’s _last nerve._

“Thanks, buddy,” Taako says, releasing his hand. Kravitz is still sitting at the end of the sofa. He pulls Taako’s legs in his lap and wraps a hand around one of his ankles. Taako buries his face in the couch. “Krav, babe, why’re you already good at this? You already got kids out there somewhere?”

“It doesn’t do you any good if I panic,” Kravitz tells him. “Besides, I’m… well, very old—”

 _“Ancient,”_ Lup says. Kravitz smiles.

“A little ancient,” Kravitz amends. “Sometimes, things like this have to happen.”

“Life Be Like That,” Lup translates, and Taako laughs into the couch cushion. Kravitz holds out a hand.

“Why don’t we give you some water and go for a walk, Taako?” Kravitz suggests, when the pain hasn’t come back for a little while. Taako nods, gives Kravitz his hand and lets himself get pulled to his feet. Magnus hovers, because he’s _Magnus,_ and without anything to do, he’s probably feeling helpless. Taako can’t really _give_ him anything to do.

“Can you grab a glass of water, Magnus?” Kravitz asks. Taako looks to him gratefully, because Kravitz always knows what to do, apparently. Magnus just seems happy to have a task; he heads off for the kitchen. Kravitz leans down into Taako’s space.

“Taako,” Kravitz says softly. “I think Magnus is afraid of losing you.”

“What— Babe, I’m not going anywhere,” Taako whispers back. Kravitz looks at him with a look Taako assumes should have meaning, but he can’t figure out what it is.

“He’s already lost Julia,” Kravitz says, so low only Taako’s elf ears can even pick it up. “I think he’s worried about losing you, too. He’s scared. He doesn’t know what to do and he can’t protect you from this.” Kravitz pushes a strand of hair back, hooks it behind Taako’s ear. “I just don’t think he knows how to say it. Go easy on him.”

Taako feels a dawning realization of, _ahh, Magnus is insane because he’s scared,_ and it’s hard to remember, but, yeah, sometimes Magnus is scared. Taako nods against Kravitz’s hand, then turns to Magnus.

“Hey, Mango, wanna take me on my walk?” Taako asks. Magnus looks like he almost drops the glass of water, but he manages to get it into Taako’s hands.

“Yeah, sure, lemme just go get your jacket and—”

“No, I’m good like this,” Taako says. _Like this_ is barefoot in his nightgown, but the literal thought of putting anything else on or taking anything off is repulsive to him in this moment. He takes a sip of water and holds out his hand, which Magnus takes. Magnus hesitates for a second, then leans in, kissing the top of Taako’s head and exhaling shakily. He guides Taako outside and holds tight to his hand as Taako sips his water and is lead by Magnus through the grass around their house.

“Magnus,” Taako says, because one of them has to start this talk, and Magnus hasn’t shown any signs of being the one to bite that fantasy bullet. “I know you’re scared.”

Magnus scoffs. “I am _not_ scared.”

Taako eyeballs him. “Well, if you _were,_ I’d say it’s fine.” He looks back at his garden that they’ve been walking through. His tomatoes are doing pretty well. “I know that, like— Magnus doesn’t _do_ romance, and Magnus doesn’t _date,_ and Magnus doesn’t get _scared,_ and Magnus _rushes in—_ all your bullshit, like, I know, I get it. You don’t have to do any of that. But it’s okay to try.”

Magnus is quiet for a long, long moment, and Taako wonders if he pushed too hard, too fast. Then, Magnus says, “I _am_ trying.”

“It’s okay,” Taako says. Magnus scrubs a hand over his face, and he’s _already_ crying, which is pretty much par for the course for Magnus.

“I’m a _little_ scared,” Magnus says. “I’m trying my best but sometimes it’s so hard. You gave me something to live for and I don’t— I don’t want to lose that. I want to help you and I can’t _ever_ help you.”

“I don’t need you to take my pain away,” Taako tells him. “I just need you to help me through it. Isn’t that what you always say strength is? Asking for help? I need you to help me get through this, Magnus.”

Magnus turns and crushes Taako in a bear hug before Taako can even expect it. He wraps his arms tight around Taako and buries his face in his hair and cries in earnest. Taako hugs him back as best as he can while still holding his glass of water.

“You’re not gonna lose me, Mango,” Taako says, rubbing Magnus’ back. “I’m not going anywhere. Congrats, you’re stuck with me.”

Magnus laughs wetly into his hair. “I’ll try to be less annoying.”

“Good, because if you got any _more_ annoying, I’m gonna fireball you out the door,” Taako tells him. Magnus laughs again.

“Let me know what I can do to help you,” Magnus says. He finally pulls back, swiping the back of his hand across his face. Taako looks up at him.

“Right now, we should probably make out a little,” Taako suggests. Magnus blinks.

“Even though you almost died?” Magnus asks. Taako half-smiles, half-furrows his brow, baffled.

“I did _not_ almost die,” Taako says. “Not even— buddy, not even a _little_ bit. What the fuck are you talking about?”

Magnus is already busy, ducking his head down and kissing Taako as hard as he can. Taako’s hands fly up to hold onto his shoulders, and— _oh, shit,_ he forgot about the water glass. Magnus stops, turns around, plucks at his shirt and the long wet mark trickling down it.

“You’re such a dingus,” Magnus says, grinning. He slips his shirt off over his head. “If you wanted me to take it off, you could’ve just _asked.”_

“You cocky motherfu—” Taako starts saying, but Magnus is kissing him again, and things are okay.


	13. Month Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako bends the rules. Merle makes an impromptu speech.

The past two weeks have been Taako’s first two weeks of not doing anything, and he’s  _ pissed.  _ After he started getting false labor — which started happening pretty often, more often than Taako would like — Merle’s stupid books and a healer in town agreed that he shouldn’t really be going to the school, or really doing all that much around the house. Normally, Taako would be stoked about that, but he hates being told what to do more than he likes getting to hang around, and he hates being bored more than either of those things.

The babysitter he’s got assigned to him every day has been a blessing to him. He’ll never tell them that, but he assumes they already  _ know  _ that, because he clings to them like a needy octopus whenever they’re around him.

Today, it’s Merle’s job to watch him.

“It’s a great day outside,” Merle tells him, as soon as he gets in. “Why don’t we go out and garden for a little bit?”

“Hell yeah, homie, sounds good,” Taako agrees. Merle offers him a hand and helps him up out of Magnus’ armchair. He guides him outside to Taako’s garden and they sit side-by-side, weeding. Taako puts on the gloves that he sewed for himself and digs into the soil, ripping up weeds by their roots, inspecting each and every growing fruit, vegetable, and herb in the garden. Merle spends most of his time whispering to the plants. Taako’s just happy to be outside.

“You know,” Merle says, “Pan is a nature god.”

“I do know,” Taako replies. “You never shut up about it.”

“Nature is… everything growing,” Merle says. Taako’s known the guy for goddamn long enough to know that he’s trying to get around to saying something. It’s better to just let him do it instead of trying to force it out of him, because that’ll just take longer.

“Sure is, compadre,” Taako agrees.

“Pan’s also in charge of spring,” Merle tells him. “New life. Growing things. Fertility and change and all that growth shit that comes with the end of winter and the sun coming back.”

“Yeah,” Taako says, because Merle pauses for a long time.

“I’ve seen you go through a lot, Taako,” Merle says. “I kinda feel like… your uncle, maybe. Or somethin’ like that. But I’ve known you for, shit, a hundred and thirty years or something? Maybe?”

“Maybe,” Taako replies. “Yeah, something like that. Long time.”

“Long time,” Merle agrees. “And in that… in all the time I’ve known you, I’ve seen you go through a lot. And I’ve seen how you are with people.  _ And  _ I’ve seen how you are with change, and growth, and you’ve grown so much, Taako. I’m really impressed by it.”

“Thanks, old man, you haven’t grown at all,” Taako says. Merle snorts on a laugh.

“I’m done growing,” Merle jokes back. “All I mean is, you’ve changed a lot, you’ve come so far. And now you’re— I’ve seen you grow even more. You’ve really blossomed since we defeated the Hunger.”

“Yeah, homie, I don’t have to run for my life and fight ogres constantly,” Taako told him. “It makes it a lot easier for me to focus on my own character arc.”

“Yeah,” Merle says. “I just mean— You know, since Pan’s the god of fertility and nature and growing and all that, I know a lot about it. I know all about the… the power of creating life.” Merle motions to the garden. “You’re doing it now, all the time. Everything around you. You create life all the time, Taako. And now you’re really creating life— not just, like, in how you tie us all to each other, and in how you make your garden, and how you take care of Angus, and how you create life that way, but you’re  _ creating life,  _ kiddo. That’s nothing to sneeze at.”

Taako’s long since given up pretending he’s still gardening. He’s just sitting in the garden, looking at Merle, listening to his rambling speech.

“I’m proud of you, I guess,” Merle says. “And don’t go telling anybody I said that, kid, because I’ll deny it until the day I die. But you’re creating life. That’s the kind of power you can’t replicate anywhere else.”

Taako nods, looking down at his hands. He wipes at his eyes with the back of his wrist and ducks his head, letting his hair hang into his face.

“Hey, are you crying, buddy?” Merle asks. Taako shakes his head.

“No,” Taako snaps. “Shut up. I’m not.”

“Aw, you  _ are,”  _ Merle says. Taako looks up at him to glare at him.

“Fuck you,” Taako says. “Don’t you dare tell  _ anyone  _ about this.”

“Don’t tell them I let you work in the garden and we’ll call it even,” Merle offers. Taako nods and lifts up his shirt to rub at his face. “Want an iced tea?”

“Yeah,” Taako says, laughing wetly. Merle gets up and offers him a hand up, hauling him to his feet.

“You’re getting big, aren’t you?” Merle comments. Taako glares down at him.

“I can and will still kill you, homie, I won’t hesitate,” Taako says. “I really won’t. They’ll never find you.”

“The miracle of life is amazing,” Merle sighs. Taako smacks him on the back of the head with his gardening glove.


	14. Month Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angus makes a declaration. Taako takes a beach day. Magnus turns a boy into a Frisbee.

“Who’s babysitting today?” Taako asks, eating Magnus’ jerky on their bed as Magnus and Kravitz get ready to leave. “Please let it be Lup. I wanna set something on fire today.”

“No can do, babe,” Lup calls from the kitchen. “Workin’ all day with Ghost Rider.”

“You take everything from me,” Taako says mournfully to Kravitz. Kravitz leans over him, smoothing one hand over Taako’s belly, and kisses him on the forehead.

“I think you’ll have a nice day anyways,” Kravitz tells him. He steps back, and Magnus all but climbs into Taako’s lap and kisses him breathless.

“You’re looking hot today,” Magnus says. “Really. Nice work. Great bod.”

“Thanks, it’s got your three stupid kids in it,” Taako replies, ripping off a chunk of jerky with his teeth. “I aim to please.”

“Keep up the good work,” Magnus says, kissing him on the nose. Taako laughs.

“I’ll probably just be doing this all day,” Taako replies.

“How will I function, knowing you’re laid out here, eating all my jerky, growing my kids?” Magnus asks. “I’ll be hard as hell all day just thinking about it. How  _ dare  _ you.”

“How  _ dare  _ I,” Taako agrees, still grinning.

Magnus tsks at him. “So selfish. Don’t know why we bother.” He kisses him again, then gets off of the bed. “Besides, I think you’ll have a good day.”

“Why?” Taako asks. “Who’s watching me?”

“Me, sir,” Angus says from the doorway. Taako looks around Kravitz at him in surprise.

“Ango,” Taako says. “Hell yeah, little buddy, let’s do this. Wanna do magic lessons?”

“Maybe,” Angus answers, which is the closest Angus ever gets to disagreeing. Kravitz kisses Taako’s forehead again.

“Have a good day,” Kravitz says softly. He presses their foreheads together for a long moment. Taako looks up at him.

“What’re you doin’, bone daddy?” Taako whispers. Kravitz smiles at him.

“I just love you so much,” Kravitz says. Taako smiles up at him as Kravitz kisses him on the forehead three more times, then backs off. “I’ll be at work, but if you need me, call my Stone of Far Speech, and I’ll come back right away, and—”

_ “Go,  _ Krav, baby, I’ll be here when you get home,” Taako tells him. Magnus leans over and kisses him deeply, then backs off.

“I’m just at the school,” Magnus says. “If you need me, yell out the window and I’ll hear you.”

“Gotcha,” Taako says. They both hesitate.  _ “Go.  _ Ango and I got stuff to do.”

“Okay,” Magnus agrees, and he leaves. Kravitz opens up a hole in the air and vanishes through it, Lup and Barry sprinting from the hallway in through the hole after him. All that leaves Angus and Taako staring at each other.

“It’s my summer vacation,” Angus tells him. “I thought… maybe we could go to the beach today? It’s just that we’ve had to stay home a lot but they said I’m old enough to help take care of you and you seem like you don’t want to stay in the house much longer so I was just thinking—”

“Agnes,” Taako says. “Deep breaths, bubbeleh. I’m in. Go get dressed.”

“Really?” Angus asks, grinning. Taako nods.

“Really,” he tells him. Once Angus is gone, he hauls himself to his feet and gets himself into a bathing suit and a beach cover-up. He packs them a picnic lunch and leaves a note in case anyone gets home before they do, letting them know where they are and inviting them to join. Angus grabs a bunch of random snacks in case people come down while they’re still there, stuffing them into Taako’s picnic basket.

Angus slips his hand into Taako’s once they leave the house. Taako leads him down the hill to the beach where he usually meditates. There’s a huge, sandy shore where people typically like to come in from town and hang out. The water’s warm and the sand is soft and it’s one of Taako’s favorite places in the world. Angus lets go of his hand once their feet hit the sand, and he’s sprinting down to the water, kicking off his shoes as he goes. Taako scoops up the sandals and dumps their picnic basket and chairs in one spot on the sand before stripping off his beach cover-up and walking down to the water after Angus.

Angus is all the delight that a preteen who didn’t get to be delighted as a child tends to be. He dives into the waves, splashes Taako with water even after Taako openly splashes him back. He hauls Taako back up to their chairs, and they sit in the sand and make a sand castle, which becomes a sand fortress, and, soon, a sand kingdom. Angus comes up with stories for each of the sand people that populates their kingdom.

“You know, sir,” Angus says, as he crafts the sand farm outside of sand town, and Taako rubs fantasy sunscreen into the boy’s face, “I figured something out, recently.”

“Didja now, pumpkin?” Taako replies absentmindedly. He caps the fantasy sunscreen, then leans back on his hands, letting the sun soak into his light blue skin. He’s got his hair down, bathing suit on, sunhat on, sunglasses in place on his nose. He feels properly summery. “What’s that?”

“I think  _ you  _ think you’re not going to be a good father,” Angus says, and Taako doesn’t let his expression change, just keeps staring out at the ocean. “Even though Lup had me come and tell you I thought you would be. I think you still think you won’t. Magnus asked me not to bring it up, but I think… Taako, you’re such a good dad to me.”

“Ango,” Taako says, in a low voice.

“No, really,” Angus says. “You’ve been taking care of me since even before all of this. You’re gonna be a good dad for your kids because… well, I mean, you’ve been taking care of me for a while now, right? I’ve been living at your house for a while.”

“Our house,” Taako corrects absently.

“And so you’re  _ already  _ a dad, I think,” Angus says. “And I know Magnus didn’t want me to bring it up, but it was important to me that you know that. So. I can’t thank you enough.”

Taako nods, looking out at the water. He looks down at the sand blacksmith near his hand. “That’s a lot, buddy.”

“I know,” Angus says. “But it’s true. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, dingus, just—” Taako exhales, then sits up. He reaches out and scratches along Angus’ scalp, pushing his hair out of his face. “Thanks, guinea pig.”

“You’re a good dad, Taako,” Angus says. Taako puts his hand over Angus’ face.

“When you say things like that, it makes my insides stupid,” Taako says. “Got your message loud and clear. You make me wanna be a better person. Let’s keep this between us.”

“Sounds good,” Angus says, around Taako’s sandy hand. Taako withdraws his hand, then pulls the picnic basket over into his lap.

“You want fantasy Oreos, kid?” Taako asks. Angus nods eagerly, and Taako tosses him the paper bag he’d put the fantasy Oreos in. He takes one for himself, then leans back, nibbling at it. “Hey, Agnes?”

“Yeah?” Angus replies, already with a whole fantasy Oreo in his mouth.

“Are you… happy?” Taako asks. Angus looks up at him.

“Happier than I’ve ever been,” Angus answers, without hesitation. Taako nods, then shoves the whole fantasy Oreo in his mouth.

“Let’s go back in the water,” Taako suggests, and Angus leaps to his feet. He takes Taako’s hand again and walks down to the water with him, the two of them stopping to look for seashells where the water meets the sand. Taako shakes his hair out and lets the breeze go through it while Angus sits in the mud and digs for a particularly stubborn shell. He looks back towards the shore and the grassy hills beyond and sees a familiar shape. He raises one hand, and Magnus waves back.

“Hey, look who it is, pumpkin,” Taako says. Angus looks up, then jumps to his feet and waves to Magnus. Magnus breaks into a sprint, his dogs running alongside him as he flies into the water, scoops Angus up, and keeps running until he’s far enough to toss Angus in. Angus shrieks with laughter the whole way. Taako watches, then turns when there’s a crack behind him. Kravitz, Lup, and Barry come through it.

“Beach montage!” Lup exclaims, already rooting through the picnic basket for snacks. Barry’s in his casual beachwear already. Kravitz is wearing what looks to be a bathing suit of Barry’s, which means it’s hideous, but it’s the only thing that’ll fit him out of them all, probably. He’s hot enough to pull it off, anyways, and he goes to Taako and kisses him, which,  _ nice. _

“You look hot all the time, how the shit do you do that?” Taako asks.  _ “Seriously.  _ You’ve been reaping all day, and you still look like the hottest fucking guy in the world. How do you do it?”

“It’s not easy,” Kravitz tells him. Taako laughs and lets himself be kissed again, Kravitz’s cool hand sliding down to the small of his back, feeling even colder for how warm Taako’s skin is. Magnus jogs over to them, Angus held like a football under one arm.

“What’re we up to? We kissing each other over here?” Magnus asks, then leans in and kisses Taako while Angus yelps. “You look hot, buddy. All, like—” Magnus moves to gesture something, then stops and looks down at Angus. “Cover your ears.”

“No way,” Angus says. “Put me down!”

“You asked for it, Ango,” Magnus says, turning and flinging Angus, shrieking, back into the water. Taako laughs and watches Angus swim back up to the surface and fling water at Magnus’ back. Watching Magnus, and Angus, and now Kravitz, who Magnus  _ also  _ picked up and flung into the water, makes him think  _ maybe  _ Angus was onto something.  _ Maybe. _


	15. Month Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako puts on a brave face. Magnus and Lup throw a party. Kravitz is an anchor.

Taako has been in a lot of pain all day, which means it’s just the perfect goddamn day for Lup and Magnus to throw him a surprise baby shower. He comes out of their bedroom after taking a meditative nap and Kravitz is standing in the hallway.

“I’m so sorry,” Kravitz says. “I know you haven’t been feeling well, but I  _ also  _ know you love being the center of attention, so— there was no right answer.”

“To what?” Taako asks, and Kravitz steps aside, and Magnus and Lup jump out from the kitchen.

“Surprise!” they shout, at the same time. Taako stares at them, then into the room beyond them— it looks like everyone he’s ever fucking met is crammed into their living room and kitchen. He looks to Kravitz, who looks deeply apologetic. Taako makes himself smile.

“Hell yeah!” he exclaims. Magnus bounds to his side and takes his arm, guiding him into the living room. Taako can see Merle and his kids, Angus, Ren, Carey, Killian, Barry, Davenport—

“Oh, Jesus,” he says, because  _ Lucretia’s  _ here, and he’s mostly tried to avoid her since he got his memories back, because he hasn’t  _ quite  _ gotten himself to forgive her.

“It’ll be okay,” Kravitz says, at his other side.

“Maybe you can forgive her,” Magnus suggests, hopefully. Taako shakes his head and changes course, heading towards Carey instead. Carey looks delighted to see him, so Taako lingers with her, letting her talk about anything and everything because he really doesn’t have any new goings-on in his life to contribute. He finds out from Carey that Lup and Magnus organized the whole thing, because they wanted him to be able to have this, and Taako is  _ so  _ grateful and also  _ so  _ fucking exhausted.

“Kravitz, Krav, c’mere,” Taako says, when Carey leaves to help Magnus with something, and Kravitz slides behind him, ghosting around the party. Kravitz looks glad to have something to do, and comes to Taako’s side. “Babe, I’m dying here.”

“What’s wrong?” Kravitz asks, instantly on alert, because they all are, always, and nothing Taako says or does can change that, apparently.

“I’ve got that stupid fucking false labor shit again,” Taako tells him, in a low voice. “Just— Will you stay close to me, please? I don’t want anyone to know. Especially not Magnus or Lup, since they’re just—  _ Look  _ at them, they’re so happy, and this was so nice of them, and I can’t do  _ anything  _ ri—”

“Hey, hey, Taako, it’s okay,” Kravitz says. He takes Taako’s face between his cold hands and presses his lips to Taako’s forehead. “It’s  _ okay.  _ I won’t tell anyone, and I’ll stay right here with you. Okay?”

Taako lets his eyes slip shut, and he nods. Kravitz stays there for a little while, just rubbing circles into Taako’s cheekbones with his cold thumbs while Taako breathes through his pain. Kravitz murmurs softly to him— it’s mostly nothing, but Kravitz has a nice voice and a comforting, calming presence. He’s more than enough to help Taako regulate his breathing. Eventually, Magnus comes back around.

“Hey, it’s time— Hey,” he says again, lower. “Hey, you alright, Taako?”

“Hells yeah, homie, let’s do this, what’ve you got planned?” Taako asks. Kravitz slips his hand into Taako’s and lets Magnus take the lead. He’s got all sorts of ideas, probably from people in town, which he and Lup seem more than happy to execute. Party games and a little cake that Lup made and everyone brought a gift, which is exciting, because Taako hasn’t really done much of anything in the room Magnus has designated as a nursery.

Killian wins most of the games, which Taako finds mildly amusing. She and Carey give them three baby slings for their chests. Taako loves his; it shines like it’s made of chrome. He lets Carey and Killian smash him into a hug. Merle and his kids — Mavis and Mookie, Magnus helpfully reminds him — present them with three mobiles. Merle tells them they each made one. They’re all plant-themed, with varying degrees of success.

“This is lovely,” Kravitz says, holding up the best one. Merle claps Mavis on the back.

“That’s my girl’s,” Merle tells them. Kravitz hands it off to Taako, who never even  _ thought  _ of something like this, and who is starting to feel a  _ little  _ behind on what he’s supposed to be doing for these kids besides just carrying them.

Ren gets them little wands, and tells them she’s available to babysit anytime.

“What if they’re not good at magic?” Magnus asks. Ren snorts.

“You know Taako, right?” Ren asks him. “From TV? They’re  _ his  _ kids. Of  _ course  _ they’re going to be good at magic.” She jerks a thumb at Magnus as she snorts, like she’s saying  _ This guy, am I right?,  _ and Taako agrees fully. He grins at Magnus.

Davenport gives his gift next. “I always wondered who’d be the first of us to have a kid.”

“It was me,” Merle speaks up. Davenport glances at him like this realization is just dawning on him. Merle motions to his two children, standing beside him.

“Uhh, well, we didn’t know you at the time, so, doesn’t count,” Davenport tells him. Mavis laughs. Davenport turns back to Taako. “I’ve been saving this for a while. I made it during one of our first cycles.” He holds out a quilt. “Of course, you’re having a whole bunch, and it’s just one quilt, but— I’ve been saving it for this.”

Taako spreads out the quilt and they look it over. It’s pretty well done, for all Davenport isn’t great at stitching. But it’s warm, and soft, and Magnus looks absolutely delighted, so Taako thanks him.

“I made these,” Angus tells them, when it’s his turn. “Barry helped me.”

“He mostly did it himself,” Barry says. Taako opens the shittily-wrapped box and pulls out sweaters. Tiny,  _ tiny  _ sweaters, with dogs embroidered on them. Magnus looks  _ deeply  _ affected by this, and he yanks Angus in for a hug. Angus pats his back soothingly.

“Lup and I did ours together,” Barry tells Taako. “Lup’s idea, and mostly her execution, but I helped drag them from the marketplace into here.”

“He did,” Lup says. She helps Taako to his feet, then takes him down the hallway to the nursery. She whips open the door and shouts, “Ta-da!”

The nursery had been empty before, but now there are three carved, wooden, elven baby cribs in the room. Taako is shell-shocked just at the sight of them, and everything feels abruptly  _ real,  _ because his  _ children  _ are going to  _ sleep  _ in these, and they look how elf beds used to look, and he buries his face in his hands.

“This is stupid,” Taako says into his palms. “I fucking love it.”

“You’re such a dingus,” Lup says, pulling Taako into a hug. Taako buries his face in her shoulder, and Barry hugs him from behind, the two of them sandwiching him in the middle. “Now my niecephews will have a nice place to sleep. Elfy.”

_ “Very  _ elfy,” Barry comments. Taako lifts his head, then frowns at something covered in a sheet in the corner of the room.

“What’s that?” Taako asks. Magnus laughs, a little awkwardly, and rubs at the back of his neck.

“Uhh, I know they’re, like, also my kids, but I wanted to get you a gift anyways,” Magnus says. Taako raises an eyebrow at him. “Or, I guess, I didn’t get it, I made it. Well—”

“What is it, Mango?” Taako asks. Magnus steps around him to whip the sheet off, and underneath is— a rocking chair. It’s intricately carved, clearly Magnus’ work, and when Taako steps closer, it smells like lavender. Taako shuts his eyes and counts to ten.

“Do you like it?” Magnus asks. Taako nods, not entirely trusting his voice. Once he gets himself back under control, he turns back to Magnus.

“I fucking love it, homie, good work,” Taako says. “I’m gonna live in this fucking chair, so get ready for that.”

“You’re awesome,” Magnus says, gathering Taako up in a hug. Taako hugs him right back.

“I actually also got you something,” Kravitz says. “Same, uhh— Same idea as Magnus, I wanted to get you a gift anyways, because you’ve been doing so well, and I’m so— I’m very proud of you, and I love you very much.”

“What’s the gift, nerd?” Magnus asks. Kravitz materializes a box in his hands and gives it to Taako.

“It’s not a chair, but— I’ve been watching you sew, so I made these,” Kravitz says, and inside the box is about a dozen matching socks, all of varying sizes and styles as Kravitz apparently got the hang of making them. Taako lifts a couple out, and they’re so  _ small,  _ and he feels appropriately overwhelmed.

“You guys are the fucking best, it’s stupid,” Taako says. “Don’t tell anyone,  _ ever, _ that I got so worked up about fucking socks.”

“Okay,” Kravitz says. Lup snorts.

“I’m gonna bring this up as often as I possibly can,” Lup tells him. In that moment, Taako feels the pain come back again, so he reaches out and takes Kravitz’s hand. Kravitz squeezes his fingers.

“Why don’t we eat Lup’s cake?” Kravitz suggests. Lup looks appropriately delighted and leads everyone back to the living room. Lucretia lingers, and Magnus and Kravitz both stop. Taako nearly slams into Magnus’ back, but Kravitz steadies him.

“I, uhh— I brought you all a gift,” Lucretia tells them. She reaches into the bag at her side and pulls out a worn leather book. She hands it to Taako, who takes it and opens the front cover. “I made it myself. It’s a— a scrapbook, of sorts, I guess. I included drawings I did of you on the Starblaster, and reports from your work with the Bureau, and all sorts of little— Just things like that. Just so you can… remember it all. And pass that on.”

Taako glares up at her. It’s a nice book, but he’s still pissed. Lucretia seems to sense that in him.

“Taako, I know you’re still mad,” Lucretia says, and, yeah, she must be able to feel it radiating off of him. “It’s okay to be mad. I expect you to be. I definitely don’t expect you to forgive me yet. I just— I want you to know how sorry I am. I made… a  _ huge  _ mistake, and you were right, I took everything from you. I didn’t mean to, but I did, and I’m sorry.”

Taako keeps staring at her. He doesn’t want to forgive her, but he doesn’t want to keep holding onto this, even though he is still mad as hell.

“We’ll work on it,” Taako settles on. Lucretia gives him a genuine, small, half-smile.

“That’s all I can ask from you,” she says softly. Taako just keeps staring at her. Eventually, Magnus claps his big hands together.

“Thanks for the cool book, Lucy,” Magnus says. He makes a sweeping motion towards the door. “That cake won’t eat itself, let’s  _ go!” _

Taako does his level best to act right at the party, and he does have fun. He’s happy to see everyone, and Kravitz was right: he  _ does  _ love being the center of attention. He’s happy with the party, because they’re all supporting him, and Lup and Magnus threw it, and he loves them, so, yeah, he’s plenty happy. He hopes the party is good for everyone  _ else. _

By the time Carey and Killian leave — the last guests to do so — Taako is  _ exhausted.  _ Carey and Killian had helped them clean up, but now Lup is carrying Angus to his bed while Barry puts the last of the food away, and Taako’s dead on his feet. He’s been having false labor for hours, he’s exhausted as hell, he’s emotionally drained, and he’s finally realized he’s actually going to  _ have babies,  _ so it’s been a lot, today.

“Why don’t we just go to bed,” Kravitz suggests, when Magnus offers to go get dessert, or something, for everyone. Taako wants to just  _ die. _ Apparently Magnus can see that on his face, because he immediately rescinds his offer.

“Yeah, never mind,” Magnus says. He stretches his arms above his head and fake-yawns, but it turns into a real yawn. “I’m beat. Let’s hit the hay.”

Taako falls down into bed and curls up on his side. Kravitz sits at the edge of the bed, easing Taako out of his clothes while Magnus gets the covers ready. Once they’re all set, Kravitz slots in behind Taako, his chest to Taako’s back, and Magnus gets on Taako’s other side, facing him, their foreheads nearly touching.

“How was that for you?” Magnus asks, half-smiling. Taako buries his face in the pillow.

“It was awesome but I’ve been feeling horrible for  _ hours,”  _ Taako blurts out, all at once. Kravitz starts rubbing small circles into the back of his neck with his cold hand. “I’ve got that shitty false labor stuff again and I’m exhausted and fucked up and just fucking  _ suffering.” _

There’s a beat of silence.

“Taako, I am  _ so  _ sorry,” Magnus says. “I didn’t know.”

“No, bubbeleh, hey, come on, I had an awesome party,” Taako says. “The best. You know I love attention. Kudos on giving me what I love most.” Taako squirms, and Magnus reaches down, rests one huge hand over the swell of his abdomen. “I’m just tired now. I’m ready to be done.”

“Day’s over,” Kravitz says. “You can rest now.”

Another beat of silence.

“I don’t think I’m ready,” Taako says, softly, into the darkness.

“For what?” Magnus asks.

“All of it,” Taako replies. “I just— With everything today, I just have no idea what I’m doing. And I don’t know how to take care of them, or what they need, and I’ve been fucking— I’ve felt terrible  _ all  _ day, and the party was so nice, and Lucretia—” Taako stops, because he can feel tears coming, and also because he’s not sure he’s entirely making sense. He sticks his face into the pillow again. Kravitz holds Taako tighter; Magnus threads his fingers through Taako’s hair.

“We’ll figure it out together,” Kravitz tells him. “You’re handling false labor really well. Lucretia and you can go at your own pace, it’s okay to still be angry.”

“Yeah, and nobody ever knows what they’re doing,” Magnus adds. “Like, literally  _ ever,  _ nobody  _ ever  _ knows. It’s all just a crapshoot. But there’s three of us, and we’ll definitely figure it out, Taako. You’re never gonna be alone in this.”

Taako nods, face still buried in the pillow. Magnus presses closer, and Kravitz does, too; warmth along his front, cold along his back. Taako exhales shakily.

“This is  _ hard,”  _ Taako says. Magnus huffs a laugh. Kravitz strokes his hair back.

“Yeah, it is,” Kravitz says.

“Good thing you’re so good at dealing with hard things,” Magnus says. Taako scowls at him, but he can’t stop himself from laughing. “Come  _ on,  _ it was  _ right there,  _ I couldn’t pass it up—”

“Try harder next time,” Kravitz cuts him off, and Magnus full-body laughs.

“I’ll be sure to,” Magnus says. He mouths the words,  _ No, I won’t,  _ at Taako. Taako smiles.

“I can see you,” Kravitz points out. Magnus smiles.

“Oh, yeah, I know,” Magnus says, then mouths,  _ No, I didn’t,  _ at Taako. Kravitz reaches over and pinches Magnus’ arm. Taako settles down between them and watches them lightly bicker and tease one another until he can fully slip into a meditative cycle for the night.


	16. Month Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus makes an offer. Kravitz expresses himself. Taako reveals a secret.

Taako is awoken from his meditation by a large hand on his shoulder. He blinks his eyes open and looks up into Magnus’ face, and frowns. He thought Angus had been with him before he fell asleep.

“Where’s Angus?” Taako asks, stretching his arms above his head. He shuffles himself into a sitting position, and Magnus sits next to him at the edge of the sofa, right near his hips. He reaches up and smoothes Taako’s hair back from his face.

“He stayed with you until I came home because I forgot my lunch,” Magnus says. “I told him I was gonna stay home for the rest of the day, so he went into town for something.”

“By himself?” Taako asked, rubbing at his face. “What time is it?”

“He can go by himself, he’s almost taller than you are,” Magnus tells him. “It’s, uhh— lunchtime. I don’t know what time it is. Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, just tired,” Taako tells him. “It’s hard fucking work growing your kids, cut me some slack, homie.”

“No, it’s okay,” Magnus says. He lets one hand snake down to Taako’s chest. “How’s your breathing?”

Taako’s been having a hard time breathing lately; Merle assures him it’s normal, but Taako just wants to punt Merle into the sea when he says things like that. Having Magnus’ hand against his chest faintly feels like it helps, but Taako assumes that’s just the power of positive thinking.

“Still rough,” Taako tells him. Magnus’ brows pull together. “Hey, you’ve seen me literally get impaled and stabbed and crushed and all sorts of shit. This is nothing.”

“Usually you complain more,” Magnus says. “And also usually I can do something about that kind of stuff.”

“I can complain more if you want,” Taako says. Magnus pulls his hands away from Taako’s chest. “Where’re you going, dingus?”

“I just— I think I should stay home,” Magnus tells him. Taako arches one eyebrow at him as he stretches, trying to pop the joints in his back. It’s pretty much futile, but he can’t give up on the instinct to try.

“Didn’t you already tell Agnes that you were?” Taako asks. “Stay home today. I’ll make you a nice lunch, what do you want?”

“No, I mean— Well, first of all, don’t get up, I’ll make my own lunch,” Magnus says. “I can’t even imagine— What does it feel like, walking around like that?”

“Terrible,” Taako tells him. Magnus’ face scrunches up. “Seriously, homie, I’m about to tip over ninety percent of the time, I’m no good at this.”

“I think you’re doing a great job,” Magnus says, all golden-retriever joy. Taako can’t help but smile back at him.

“What’s the second of all?” Taako asks. “If you don’t want lunch.”

“I’ll make _you_ lunch,” Magnus argues.

“Magnus,” Taako says. “Focus, bubbeleh. What do you want?”

“Oh— I think I should stay home, like, forever,” Magnus says. “Or, like, not _forever,_ but as long as you need me here. Even after. Carey already offered, like, six months ago to run Hammer and Tails [A Dog’s School] while I was gone, if I needed to take some time. And I think… Or, I want, I guess, to stay home. I should stay home.”

Taako’s chest swells, because, _hell yes,_ he wants Magnus to stay with him. Magnus can be downright aggravating, but also Taako gets lonely and bored and Magnus is always the perfect antidote to that. And, plus, Magnus is right, Taako needs _way_ more help than he did before. Not that he’d ever admit _any_ of this.

“Yeah, maybe,” Taako says, keeping his inner joys on the inside where they belong. “You sure the school doesn’t need you, though? How will they survive without their puppy of the month?”

Magnus snorts. “Is that a yes? Do you want me to stay?”

Taako has a hard time saying _I want you to stay_ to anyone, because saying _I want you to stay_ will typically, in his experience, end with everyone leaving him. He’s been trying to get better about it, and being in the same house (his _own house)_ for over a year now has made him a little more comfortable, a little more willing to trust that nobody’s going anywhere. So, Taako nods his head, not looking at Magnus’ face. Magnus reaches out and puts a big hand over his face, and Taako yelps.

“Look at me,” Magnus says. Taako reaches up and takes his wrist, pulling it off his face.

“Kinda hard to do when you’re blocking my vision with your bear paws, homie,” Taako says. Magnus is just staring down at him. “Yo, what’re you looking at? I didn’t know I would—”

“You’re doing _so_ good,” Magnus says. “That’s all. Just— Nice.”

“Thanks, Mango,” Taako replies. Magnus kisses his cheek, then gets up. “Where the hell’re you going?”

“Gonna make a call, be right back,” Magnus tells him. He heads into the kitchen, speaking in low tones into his Stone of Far Speech. Taako could hear him if he tried to, has always been able to hear what Magnus calls ‘whispering’ because apparently Magnus forgets Taako has elf hearing, but leaves Magnus to whatever he needs to do in favor of half-sliding back into meditation. He’s startled back out of it when there’s a _crack_ in the kitchen, and he jolts upright to look over the back of the sofa. Kravitz is standing next to Magnus, which, unexpected.

“What’s up, bone boy?” Taako asks. Kravitz had been speaking softly to Magnus, but he looks over at Taako when he hears him. “You forget your lunch, too? Starting to think I’m getting lied to.”

“Magnus called me,” Kravitz says. He looks to Magnus, Magnus makes a motion like he’s shoving him forwards, and Kravitz comes over to sit next to Taako on the sofa. Between the two of them, he’s starting to feel like the couch is also his deathbed, and everyone’s coming to make confessions. “He said he wants to start staying home with you during the day.”

“Yeah, is that good?” Taako asks. “I know you can’t be here all the time, I don’t want you to be pissed at yourself for it.”

Kravitz shakes his head, looks down to Taako’s abdomen. He reaches out one dark hand and smoothes it over the white-and-grey material of Magnus’ shirt that Taako had stolen that morning. He runs his hand up and over the swell of Taako’s stomach.

“I want to stay home,” Kravitz says. “With the two of you. I _want_ to, more than anything. I think about you all the time and I just feel— I miss you, so much, all the time. I hate not being here.”

“Krav,” Taako says softly, but Kravitz just shakes his head. “Krav, babe— I mean, like, yeah, obviously, I wish you could be around more. But that doesn’t mean I don’t understand why you can’t be. That’s just how it is. It’s like— That’s your whole deal, bubbeleh. I get it. Your work is, like, important work.”

“It’s just work,” Kravitz says.

“It’s not really just work, dude,” Magnus says. “You’re, like, Death. You kinda gotta do your job. I work at a dog school.”

“But you’re both still more important than that,” Kravitz insists.

“I’m not saying we’re not, to _you,”_ Magnus replies. “I’m just saying your work is, like, cosmically important.”

“And also the reason you get to be alive,” Taako points out. “Or, like, whatever this is.”

“Alive enough,” Magnus offers.

“Yeah,” Taako says. “So, like, we get it. And it’s our literal best option. And, you know, this whole thing we’re doing here is with three people, so it’ll work, you know? It _has_ to work.”

Kravitz is silent. He keeps smoothing his hand over the wrinkles in Taako’s shirt, over and over. His hand is heating up until it’s lukewarm, and then he presses it against Taako’s cheek. Taako lets himself turn into the touch a little bit. When Taako looks at Kravitz’s face, he realizes, all at once, that he _knows_ that face. He saw it in the Astral Plane, and he saw it when he got Kravitz back while they were fighting the Hunger, and he saw it a couple of times since he got knocked up. He sees it on Magnus’ face at least once a day, and on his own face in the mirror when he dares to look at it.

It’s fear. Kravitz is _scared._

“Hey,” Taako says, softly. “I know I’m not, like, the best guy for a heart-to-heart, but, just so you know, it’s okay to be… like, scared of this. If you are. Not saying you are.”

Kravitz nods, then looks up at Taako. There’s fear, but there’s also trust, and love, and Taako feels so bonded to him, so connected with him, it’s insane. He loves him to _pieces,_ and that’s absolutely _insane._

“I know,” Kravitz says. “I just— What if I’m not here enough?”

“You’re here plenty,” Taako tells him.

“Like, for the kids?” Magnus asks. Kravitz looks away again. _Ahh._

“They’re not even born yet,” Taako reminds him. “And when they are, _obviously_ they’re going to love you. They already love your voice.”

Kravitz looks at him. “What?”

“Yeah, what?” Magnus asks. Taako had forgotten he hadn’t actually shared this information, which, _whoops._ Some things Taako keeps to himself for a while, just so he can have some personal parts of this whole goddamn thing he’s doing. But also, Kravitz looks like he needs to hear this, and Magnus a little bit, so, whatever. He can share.

“They really like your voice,” Taako tells Kravitz, then looks to Magnus. “Both of yours, actually. They always move when they hear you.”

“Are they moving now?” Magnus asks. Taako reaches out and takes Kravitz’s wrist, guides his hand to where the fluttering kicks are strongest. Kravitz stares intently at his hand over Taako’s shirt, red eyes blazing.

“Say something,” Taako tells him. Kravitz looks up at him, looking a little self-conscious, but he leans down a bit.

“Hi,” Kravitz says. “I, uhh— Hello. I’m— Kravitz.”

“Formal,” Magnus laughs. Taako reaches up and smacks him.

“I’m your dad,” Kravitz says, softer this time. “I— love you. Hi.” The fluttering kicks start back up, and Kravitz can clearly feel them against his hand, because he looks shocked, then looks up to Taako. “Do they always do that?”

“Just when they hear you guys,” Taako says, “and sometimes Lup. Their favorite people are my favorite people. Just how it works.”

Kravitz nods, looking back down at his hand. Taako reaches down and rucks his shirt up so Kravitz can put his hand on his bare skin. Magnus leans over the back of the couch and puts his hand next to Kravitz’s.

“Hey, tiny babies,” Magnus says. “This is your other, other dad. Not the dead one and not the one you’re inside of, the other one. What’s up?”

He gets a flurry of nudges in response, and he looks absolutely delighted by it. He leans over and knocks his head into Kravitz’s.

“We’re gonna be dads, big guy,” Magnus says. Kravitz nods, staring at their hands side-by-side. One dark hand, one tan hand, both on soft light-blue skin. Taako reaches down and puts his hand over theirs, fingers curling across the backs of their hands.

“They know you already, Krav,” Taako assures him. “They move every time you talk. They love you. I can tell. You’re here _plenty,_ so don’t even worry about it, homie. You’re already one of their favorite people and they don’t even have their whole brains yet.”

“When do they get their full brains?” Magnus asks, a little nervous. Kravitz huffs a laugh.

“Thank you,” Kravitz says. Magnus kisses Kravitz’s temple. Taako reaches up to touch Kravitz’s face, then beckons him closer. When Kravitz moves, shifting over, Taako kisses him on the mouth.

“You’re doing fine,” Taako says. “And I’ll probably like you more at the end of it after I have to spend every day with Magnus.”

“Hey!” Magnus says. “We spent every day together for, like, a hundred and twenty years or something. Hundred thirty?”

“And wasn’t that enough?” Taako asks. Magnus tosses a throw pillow at his face.

“What do you want for lunch?” Magnus asks, straightening up. Taako scoffs.

“Mixed signals,” he says to Kravitz. Magnus picks the throw pillow up off of Taako’s face, then drops it down again onto him.

“You’ll get whatever I make, then,” Magnus says.

“Thank you,” Kravitz says again, as Magnus disappears into the kitchen. Taako slides one hand over Kravitz’s face, cupping his cheek in his hand.

“Thank _you,_ bubbeleh,” Taako says. “Couldn’t do this without you two chucklefucks.”

“Hell no, you couldn’t,” Magnus calls from the kitchen. Kravitz laughs and turns his face into Taako’s hand to kiss his palm.


	17. Month Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako is miserable. Kravitz makes a suggestion. Magnus plays a familiar song.

It’s been three days since Merle told Taako he wasn’t allowed to leave his bed anymore, and Taako’s  _ pissed.  _ Merle assures him he’s been doing a  _ lot  _ of research on this, and Angus backs him up, because he’s read all the same books and he’s seen how Taako’s been doing lately and it’s for the best if he stops moving around entirely. Taako  _ gets  _ it, he  _ does,  _ everyone wants what’s best for the kids and nobody wants that more than Taako, but he’s also very much not the type to just happily stay in bed indefinitely.

“If this lasts two years,” Taako says to Magnus when Magnus brings him a grapefruit, “I’m going to kill you, then Kravitz, and then myself.”

“If Kravitz is dead, who’ll come to take you?” Magnus asks. He pulls out his pocket knife and digs into the grapefruit, carving out a slice and handing it to Taako.

“Lup can,” Taako says. “She probably wants to, anyways.”

“I’m in charge of all the important reapings,” Kravitz says, coming to sit at the foot of their bed. “That includes the world’s most powerful wizard, believe it or not.”

“You’re gonna be the one who kills me?” Taako asks, popping the grapefruit in his mouth.  _ “Hot.  _ Start now.”

“No,” Kravitz says. Taako groans and lets his head fall back against his pillow.

“I can’t meditate right,” Taako says, “I can’t breathe right, everything hurts  _ all the time,  _ I want to die  _ all the time,  _ I can’t get out of this  _ fucking bed,  _ can someone just—” Taako groans in frustration and covers his face with his hands. “I don’t even  _ know _ what I want! Just take them out of me, I don’t care anymore, just do it.”

“They’re not ready,” Kravitz says. He places one hand over Taako’s ankle, cold fingers wrapping around his warm skin. “What can we do to help?”

“Kill me.”

“Nope,” Magnus replies. “Next question. What living activity do you want to do right now?”

“Sleep,” Taako says, without hesitation. “Meditation. Anything, I don’t care, I’m just so fucking  _ tired.” _

“We can do that,” Magnus says. He sets the grapefruit aside and heads for their closet, rummaging through it while Kravitz comes up the bed to sit closer to Taako. He pulls Taako’s head into his lap and starts stroking his fingers through his hair, scratching over his scalp. Magnus reemerges from the closet with a guitar.

“You play guitar?” Kravitz asks. Magnus shrugs.

“I’m not good at it,” Magnus says, “but I keep trying to practice. Ren’s been trying to teach me to play better.”

“So, you thought _ now _ was a good time to practice?” Taako asks. Magnus climbs up onto the bed and sits cross-legged with the guitar in his hands.

“I’ve been practicing this one the longest,” Magnus says, and he starts playing the song Taako remembers from when they defeated the Hunger, because  _ everybody  _ remembers this song. It’s the voidfish’s song, Fisher’s song. Taako reaches out and puts his hand over Magnus’ calf, fingers curling loosely there, just for the contact. Kravitz hums a little above him, and Taako lets himself listen to the music, the sounds of it, as Magnus plays.

“I have another name idea,” Magnus says, not stopping the music. They’ve been tossing out suggestions to each other for the past month or so, but more often than not, they shut each other down. Their rule was that the names had to be gender neutral, because they have no idea what the babies are even going to be. And, as Taako pointed out, if they learned anything from himself and Lup, it didn’t even fucking matter, it’s all subject to change anyways. Taako feels happier with this decision, so Kravitz and Magnus went with it immediately.

“What’s it?” Taako asks tiredly. He turns his face into Kravitz’s thigh and yawns.

“Wyatt,” Magnus tells him. Taako makes a little noise of acknowledgment.

“I actually don’t hate it,” Taako says. Kravitz stops humming above him.

“It’s nice,” Kravitz agrees. Magnus keeps playing the guitar. “I actually thought of one, too.”

“Lay it on me,” Magnus replies, looking down at his fingers on the guitar.

“Uhh,” Kravitz says. “...Jules.”

Magnus’ fingers slip on the guitar, and he stops playing. Taako shifts to look up at the two of them and see what their faces are doing.

“For Julia,” Kravitz adds.

“Obviously,” Taako says. Magnus just keeps looking at Kravitz.

“I thought it was a nice neutral alternative,” Kravitz says. “And I know how much you— And how— And  _ we—” _

“Krav, shh,” Taako says. Magnus lays his guitar aside and scoots up the bed to kiss Kravitz, deeply, holding his face tightly between his big hands.

“That means so much to me,” Magnus says softly. “I didn’t— I wouldn’t expect you to—”

“Jeezy creezy, none of us can talk today,” Taako says. “I like the name. We can use that name.”

“Okay, cool,” Magnus says. They all keep sitting there. Taako wonders what Magnus is thinking, what Kravitz is thinking, but he’s too content to ask.

“Maggie,” Taako says. “Play me something?”

“Oh, yeah,” Magnus says, sitting back and picking up his guitar again. He starts plucking and slides into a new song. “Taako, you’re the only one who hasn’t picked one yet, then. If we wanna use Wyatt and— and Jules. What was that one you said you liked the other day? Blaire?”

“Blaine,” Taako corrects. Kravitz hums a little.

“Blaine,” Kravitz says, testing it out. “That’s not bad.”

“We can use those names,” Magnus offers. “I like ‘em.”

“Okay,” Taako says. He’s freaking out a little, in the center of his chest, but he’s also exhausted and sliding into a meditative cycle, so he lets the panic pass by in favor of focusing on Magnus’ music, on Kravitz’s hands running through his hair, on the gentle movements of his children inside of him, now named, so now they’re  _ attached. _

Taako’s still pissed, still uncomfortable, still bored, still in pain. But he can let it all slide, just for a second, to do this instead.


	18. Month Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako has a meltdown. Magnus is in the thunderdome. Kravitz remains an anchor.

“I want to die _all the time,”_ Taako groans into his pillow.

“Well, don’t,” Lup says, laying next to him in his bed, reading one of Angus’ mystery novels. Taako flings his pillow to the ground, and Lup glances over at him. “What’s up?”

 _“I want to die,”_ Taako repeats. He turns his head to look at Lup. “Let me clean the kitchen.”

 _“No,”_ Lup replies. “Holy hell, who are you and what’ve you done with my brother?”

“I want to _clean_ something,” Taako tells her. He turns to look at her. “Let me clean the babies’ room.”

“No.”

“Please.”

 _“No,_ Taako,” Lup repeats. “Jesus, don’t let anyone else see you like this, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

“I can make dinner,” Taako suggests. He starts heaving himself up into a sitting position, but Lup just reaches out and drags him back down. “Lup, I am _begging_ you to let me make dinner.”

“I’m calling Merle, you’ve gone insane,” Lup says, grabbing her Stone of Far Speech off of Kravitz’s side table. Taako tries to snatch it away from her, but she holds it out of his reach and tunes into Merle’s channel. He’s constantly leaving it on silent, and today’s no different, because he doesn’t pick up. Lup jumps off the bed and jogs into the hallway. “Angus? You here, little man?”

Angus appears in the doorway. “Hi, what’s wrong?”

“Why’s something gotta be wrong?” Lup asks. “You don’t wanna hang?”

Angus leans around her. “Taako, what’s wrong?”

“Lup snapped,” Taako answers. “Ango, c’mere and help me up.”

Angus looks up at Lup, then turns to look down the hallway, at something Taako can’t see. “Magnus!”

Magnus comes skidding down the hall, to a stop, next to Angus. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, my God, stop calling people,” Taako groans.

“Can I help Taako up?” Angus asks Magnus. Magnus scoffs.

“Hell, no,” Magnus says. “He’s not allowed to get up for the rest of the time. He’s bedridden forever. Leave him.”

“You’re cruel,” Taako shouts at him. “Come help me up.”

“Why?” Magnus calls back. There’s a beat of silence.

“I wanna clean the nursery,” Taako says. Magnus laughs.

“What the fuck did you say this was called, Ango?” Magnus asks.

“Nesting,” Angus answers. Lup snaps her fingers.

 _“That’s_ what it’s called,” Lup says. “Thanks, squirt.” She turns and points at Taako. “Stop nesting.”

 _“No,”_ Taako snaps back. “Help me up, Magnus.”

“Hell, no,” Magnus replies.

“I want to cook dinner,” Taako insists. “I’ll make your favorite. Anything you want.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Magnus asks. “Gimme my boyfriend back, I don’t know this guy.”

“I’ll _kill you_ if you don’t let me up,” Taako snaps. Magnus grins.

“There he is,” Magnus says. “Look, I’ll get us takeout, we’ll all eat in here with you. How’s that sound?”

“Horrible,” Taako lies, because he loves the idea of everyone eating with him. “Can we eat in the nursery?”

“You can’t clean the fucking nursery, Taako,” Magnus replies. “Besides, it’s already clean from the time you tricked Merle into letting you in there.”

“Merle is the only sane one of all of you,” Taako tells them. “He knows I’m not _paralyzed_ or fucking handcuffed to this bed.”

“You’re not cleaning the nursery,” Magnus says. Taako glares at him.

“Just let me sit in there,” Taako says. “Come on. I wanna sit in the rocking chair and smell the lavender.”

Magnus eyeballs him. “...No. You’re not supposed to.”

“I’ll trade you,” Taako says. “I’ll… suck your dick for it.”

“Whoa!” Lup exclaims, clapping her hands over Angus’ ears. “Babe, I love you, but _come on.”_

“The answer should still be no, right?” Magnus asks Lup. Lup lets go of one of Angus’ ears to slap the side of Magnus’ head. “First of all, _ow._ Second of all, use your words.”

“No shit, the answer is no, look at him,” Lup says, motioning at Taako. Taako tries to sit up and fails. Magnus frowns a little. _“Magnus.”_

“I’m thinking about it,” Magnus tells her.

“It’s a good offer,” Taako says. He looks to Lup. “He likes it. He likes me like this, it gets him off—”

“Taako!” Magnus shouts over him, as Lup exclaims, “I _have no brother!”_

“Don’t kinkshame him,” Taako calls, pointing at Lup. Lup sticks her tongue out at him.

“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want when you’re talking about _my baby brother_ having _sex,”_ Lup tells them.

“We don’t even _know_ who’s older,” Taako snaps back. Lup bares her teeth.

“I’m older and we both know it,” Lup says.

“Enough!” Magnus exclaims. “Taako, you can’t get out of bed, but you can suck my dick later if you want. Lup, even if you _are_ older, don’t bother arguing, he’s just bored. Angus—” Magnus crouches down and takes Lup’s hands off Angus’ ears. “Wanna help me get dinner?”

“Yes!” Angus says. Magnus scoops Angus up and sticks him on his shoulders.

“Behave yourselves while I’m gone,” Magnus says. “Barry and Krav should be home any second, you can fight with them for fun.”

Just as Magnus is leaving, a rip opens up in the bedroom, and Kravitz and Barry step through it. Kravitz looks at Taako, then at Lup.

“Did we interrupt something?” Kravitz asks.

“Welcome to the thunderdome,” Lup says. She motions to Barry. “C’mere, we gotta go get something, I need your help.”

“Uhh— Yeah, okay,” Barry agrees. He lets Lup grab his wrist and tug him out of the room, leaving Kravitz and Taako staring at each other.

“Did you have a nice day?” Kravitz asks.

 _“I want to die,”_ Taako replies. Kravitz nods and sits on the edge of the bed. His face starts stitching itself back over his skull.

“So, another normal day,” Kravitz says. Taako whacks him with a pillow.

“Nobody’s letting me get up,” Taako tells him. He scoots around until he can get his head into Kravitz’s lap. “But _you’ll_ help me, right? I just want to make dinner for everyone. It can’t hurt.”

“Absolutely not,” Kravitz replies. Taako frowns.

“I’ll suck your dick for it,” Taako says.

“What an offer,” Kravitz says. “How can I say no?”

“Really?”

 _“No,”_ Kravitz says. “I’m not Magnus, that won’t work on me.”

“Didn’t work on him today, either,” Taako sighs. Kravitz starts running his fingers through Taako’s long hair.

“What amazing restraint,” Kravitz says. “How _does_ he do it.”

“You’re snarky today,” Taako comments. “Bee in your bonnet? What’s eating you?”

“Just missed you, actually,” Kravitz tells him. Taako lifts his head, and Kravitz bends over double to kiss Taako’s lips, then his nose, then his forehead. Taako smiles at him, just a _little._ They both look towards the door when they hear a scraping sound in the hallway, then a muffled _“Shit!”,_ and a _thump._ Before Kravitz can get up to investigate, the door’s kicked fully open, and Barry and Lup are in the doorway, manhandling the rocking chair Magnus had made into the room. Taako flies up into a sitting position.

“You guys,” Taako says. He has to force himself not to cry, because all they did was move a chair down the hall, but _still._ “Krav, help me up.”

Kravitz does help him up this time, taking his hands and hauling him to his feet. He keeps one hand on the small of Taako’s back, all the way to the rocking chair where Lup and Barry have positioned it in the corner of the room. It smells so pleasantly of lavender and the baby things they’ve been keeping in the nursery, and Taako turns his face into the wood at the back of the seat, letting himself absorb it all.

“Is that better, you big baby?” Lup asks. Taako nods.

“Thank you,” he says. He turns to Barry. “Thanks. Actually, let me thank you by making you dinner. Help me up.”

“Lup, he’s doing it again,” Barry says, panicked. Lup reaches out and flicks Taako’s temple.

“Don’t manipulate my boyfriend,” Lup tells him. Taako bares his teeth at her, and she bares hers right back.

“I kinda wanna see who’d win this fight,” Barry comments. Kravitz raises his eyebrows at him.

“It’s me,” Lup and Taako say at the same time. They turn to glare at each other again.

“Just kidding,” Lup says, after a moment. “I’d let you win since you’re in such a delicate position.”

“Fuck you,” Taako replies. He smiles, then Lup smiles.

“Fuck you, too, dingus,” Lup says. She comes over and kisses him on the top of the head. “You’re doing great.”

“I’m gonna kill everyone in this room and then myself,” Taako says.

“That’s the spirit,” Lup replies.

“I’m _miserable,”_ Taako says. “I just want to clean and just _sit_ in their nursery and make food and I’m so _bored_ and I want everything to be just _right_ and sew new clothes and organize their things and _nobody will let me!”_ Taako buries his face in the back of the chair again. “I want to chill out but I _can’t_ and I’m _so fucking huge_ and I want to _die! Fuck!”_

There’s a moment of silence. Then, Lup whistles.

“Jeezy creezy, bruh, let it out,” Lup says. Taako exhales shakily. A hand lands on the back of his neck; judging by how fucking cold it is, it’s Kravitz’s. His fingertips dig into Taako’s muscles.

“I’m sorry you’re so miserable,” Kravitz says, softly. Taako just shakes his head. “Really. I’m sorry. If I can do anything for you—”

They all hear the front door bang open at the same time. Magnus appears in the doorway, holding two bags of food, Angus hanging off his back.

“Food time!” Magnus announces, then reads the room. Angus slides to the floor. “Who died?”

“Taako’s sanity,” Barry says. Taako hears an _oof,_ which sounds like Lup elbowing him. Kravitz’s touch leaves Taako’s neck, and he hears Kravitz speaking softly to Magnus. He doesn’t even try to listen to what they’re saying; he assumes they’re just talking about his meltdown.

“Well, let’s eat dinner,” Magnus says. He comes over to Taako and kisses the top of his head. Taako sighs. “Hey, it’s okay. I’d be pissed, too, dude. We’ll try and figure something out, okay? So you’re less miserable.”

Taako hesitates, then nods. Magnus turns him around in the rocking chair and hands him a sandwich.

“Brought the chair in here?” Magnus asks. Taako nods again.

“Lup and Barry did,” Taako tells him. Magnus smiles.

“I’m glad you like it,” Magnus says. Taako looks down at the sandwich in his hands and is horrified to feel his nose prickling. Before he can stop it, tears are rolling down his face. “Whoa, hey, buddy, what’s up?”

“I don’t know,” Taako tells him. Magnus sits up and pulls Taako into his arms. Taako just buries his face in Magnus’ neck and stops trying to hold it all back, just lets _go,_ crying into Magnus’ skin. There’s a hand on his back, and he recognizes right away that it’s Lup’s, and he cries harder.

“Hey,” Kravitz says, close by. Taako turns his head and sees Kravitz crouching next to them. “You’re gonna be okay.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Taako tells him, voice catching as he tries to get it under control. Kravitz reaches out and thumbs the tears away from his cheeks.

“That’s okay,” Kravitz says. “Really. It is. Go ahead and let it out.”

Taako keeps looking at him, can’t stop looking at him as he tries to get himself back under control. Kravitz keeps stroking his thumb under Taako’s eye, murmuring to him. Lup rubs circles into his back. Magnus just keeps holding him. By the time Taako gets himself back under control, he’s angry and mortified but also kind of relieved, like he let a little tension off his shoulders, out of his chest. He exhales, wet, shaky. Magnus leans back and Taako scrubs at his face with the heels of his hands.

“Sorry,” Taako says. Everyone tells him not to be at once. “No, I— I’m just a mess.”

“I would be, too,” Barry says. Taako glances up at him. “Well, I would.”

“Yeah, same, honestly,” Magnus agrees. Kravitz swipes his hand over Taako’s face, then threads his fingers through his hair.

“Nobody’s upset with you,” Kravitz assures him. Taako sits up, pushes his hair behinds his ears, takes a deep breath. He smells the lavender of the rocking chair as he does.

“Enough of Taako’s pity hour,” Taako says. “Dinner time, eat your food, stop looking at me.”

“Asking us to stop looking at him?” Magnus says. “This really _isn’t_ Taako. I miss my nice, normal boyfriend who demands attention from me all the time.”

“You should still give me attention, I’m just trying to let you off the hook,” Taako says. Magnus cups Taako’s face in one hand, kisses him on the eyelid. Taako laughs and shoves him away. “Go eat your food.”

“Probably don’t have too many of these left,” Barry comments. Taako raises an eyebrow at him. “Family dinners like this, I mean. Before you have the kids.”

“Elves are usually pregnant for two years,” Taako reminds him. “We’ve got still got a ways to go, my guy, fucked as it is.”

“We’ve got another seven months?” Barry asked, incredulous. He turned to Lup, who shrugged.

“That’s normal for elves,” Lup says. Barry motions wildly to Taako with his half-eaten sandwich.

“Just _look_ at him!” Barry exclaims. “No, he’s gotta have these kids soon.”

“No way,” Lup says. She looks over Taako. Taako frowns at them.

“Let’s make it interesting,” Barry offers. Lup turns back to Barry.

“Keep talking,” Lup says.

“I bet he’ll have them in the next… let’s say six weeks,” Barry tells her. Lup scoffs.

“Oh, he’s gotta make it beyond six weeks, he’s an elf,” Lup says. “You’re on.”

“I wanna play,” Angus says. Taako scowls at him.

“My own flesh and blood,” Taako scolds. “Betrayal. How _dare_ you.”

“I’m adopted,” Angus reminds him. He turns back to Lup. “I’m gonna say the six weeks after that.”

“I’m sticking with the even two years,” Lup says.

“I’m gonna say after Angus’ but before Lup’s,” Magnus chimes in. Taako flicks a pickle at him; Magnus catches it in his mouth and grins triumphantly as he chews it.

“I’ll take in between Magnus and Lup,” Kravitz says. Taako sighs.

“Whoever wins better give me half their winnings since I’m the one shitting out the kids in the first place,” Taako tells them. They all agree and start digging through their pockets for the pool. Taako watches them with a scowl on his face, even though he fucking _loves_ them.


	19. Month Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako gets down to business.

“I can’t _believe_ you won,” Lup exclaims, when Taako wakes up from his meditation with what he assumes is false labor again, sits up in bed, and his water immediately breaks. He’d called for help, because nobody was actually in his room with him, and Lup and Barry were the first ones to skid in. Barry had cheered triumphantly as soon as he’d seen Taako’s face.

“I  _ knew  _ it,” Barry says. “They’re half-elves, Lup!  _ Half-elves!  _ Just  _ look  _ at him, there’s no way he’d make it another six months—”

“Can you fucking argue about this later?” Taako demands. “I’m about to shit out three fucking kids, I could use a goddamn hand.”

“Oh, right,” Lup says, as Barry sticks his head back into the hallway and shouts  _ “Magnus!” _ down into the living room. Taako hears the front door slam, and then Magnus skids into the room. He looks at Taako, then at the mess on the bed.

“Didn’t piss yourself, did you?” Magnus asks. Taako lobs a pillow at his head. “I’m gonna call Kravitz.”

“Yeah, do that,” Taako says. He turns to Barry. “Call Merle, please. If he doesn’t answer, just kill me now.”

“He’ll answer,” Barry says. Kravitz appears in an interplanar tear in the room, looking stunned. “Krav, get Merle, please.”

“Got it,” Kravitz says, disappearing back into the rip. He reappears a minute later with Merle in tow.

“Go time, kiddo?” Merle asks. Taako has another contraction rip through his body, and false labor is  _ nowhere  _ near how horrible this feels. He fists his hands in the covers on the bed and can’t help but tense up, his body trying to fold up into itself.

“Nobody let Angus see this,” Taako tells the room at large. Barry jogs out of the room at once.

“Lup, go get me as many towels as you can,” Merle tells her, and Lup sprints from the room. “Magnus, get me a block of wood, something that fits in Taako’s mouth.” Magnus nods to him and also runs from the room. “Krav, come up here, get behind Taako, let him lean back against you.”

“Okay,” Kravitz says, climbing up onto the bed and shoving a couple of pillows out of the way to get behind Taako. He pulls Taako up against his chest and reaches down, grasps Taako’s hands in his and lets them rest on Taako’s thighs. Taako is deeply appreciative for the coolness of his skin and the calmness he’s exuding, because the contraction is ending and the pain is horrible and he’s doing his best to just breathe through it.

“Taako, you might have to do this for a while, so get comfortable,” Merle tells him. Lup gets back into the room with the towels, and Kravitz and Lup together manage to help Taako get his hips up enough to line the bed with towels. Taako lays back down on them, turning his face into Kravitz’s chest.

“You look great, bro,” Lup tells him, sitting next to him on the bed. Taako frowns in her general direction, but his eyes are closed, so he can’t see her. “No, really. The miracle of life. Nature is amazing.”

“Fuck you,” Taako snarls.

“Wow,” Lup says. “I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to witness this up close.”

“I will  _ end you,”  _ Taako tells her. He opens his eyes, and she smiles at him, smoothing his hair back away from his face.

“Can’t wait,” she says. “Want me to braid your hair?”

“No shit,” Taako says. She sits next to him and takes half his hair in her hand, separating it out and tightly fantasy-French-braiding it from his hairline down his back. She scoots over and does the same on the other side. Kravitz just keeps rubbing his thumbs into the backs of Taako’s hands. Magnus skids back into the room with a block of wood, which he hands off to Merle.

“Angus is in his room, reading,” Magnus says. “Thanks, Barry.”

“No problem,” Barry says. They all stand there.

“Uhh,” Lup says. “Now what?”

“Now we wait,” Merle says. He pulls up Kravitz’s chair and takes a seat. Everyone looks to Taako.

“Don’t fucking look at me,” Taako says. “I’m trying my fucking best, I’m not on a schedule or anything here—  _ Jesus,”  _ he gasps, as another contraction rips through him. He squeezes Kravitz’s hands tightly in his own, but Kravitz doesn’t even flinch, just keeps rubbing his thumbs in circles, over and over. Magnus climbs onto the bed and kisses Taako on the forehead, hard, smiling.

“Can’t wait,” Magnus says. Taako glares up at him, still struggling to breathe through the contraction.

“When this is over, I’ll kill you,” Taako tells him. Magnus just grins.

“Sounds great,” he says. Taako groans and lets his head fall back to rest against Kravitz’s chest as the contraction ends.

“Looks like you’re moving right along, kid,” Merle says, pulling a book out of his bag. “We’ll keep an eye on you, but I don’t expect this to take long at all.”

* * *

Ten hours later, Taako is ready to murder anyone who even considers looking at him wrong. Kravitz has been swapped out for Magnus, then Lup, then Barry, then back to Kravitz, and now Magnus again, each of them taking a turn sitting behind Taako, supporting his weight, holding his hands. Merle just keeps an eye on him, talking him through it all, making comments here and there that make Taako wish he could fling him out a window.

“You’re doing great, kid,” Merle comments as he eats a tomato like it’s an apple, like he’s a  _ savage. _ Kravitz has his hand between Taako’s legs, his head ducked down. “Looks like it won’t be long now.”

“You’ve been saying that all fucking day, old man,” Taako snaps. “If it’s not true this time, I’m gonna fucking throw you  _ into the ocean.” _

“Good work, babe,” Magnus says behind him. “Give him hell.”

“Merle, look at this,” Kravitz says. Taako wants everything  _ except  _ Merle sticking his head between his legs, but at this point, he truly doesn’t give a shit  _ what  _ happens, as long as  _ something  _ happens. Merle does duck down, and then he whistles.

“Hey, kiddo, you’re just about ready,” Merle says. “Good work, you’re doing great.”

“What the fuck does that mean,” Taako snaps, gritting his teeth as another contraction makes its way through him. They’ve only been getting worse and worse, and closer and closer together, as the day wore on. Taako’s been trying anything and everything that anyone can think of to move things along, but nothing’s worked. Instead, he’s just sprawled against whoever’s with him in that moment, getting ice pressed against his face. His hair has been steadily creeping out of its braids, flyaways all around the plaits, loose strands sticking to his face with sweat. He’s long since lost almost all his clothes except one of Magnus’ longer shirts, basically a dress on him. Magnus keeps rubbing his shoulders as Taako struggles to breathe through the pain.

“It means you’ll probably be ready to go soon,” Merle tells him. Magnus motions Kravitz over and they switch out, careful not to jostle Taako too much; they had decided much earlier it was best for Kravitz to be the one holding him, since he’s basically a living ice pack and Taako can’t break his bones if it came down to it. Taako settles back against Kravitz’s chest, trying to catch his breath, when another contraction comes.

“Holy fuck,” Taako gasps. “I’m gonna kill these kids.”

“Hell, no, they’re already cool as fuck,” Lup says. “Fashionably late. That’s my niecephews.”

“I hate you,” Taako spits. Lup grins at him, then Taako feels weird, all of a sudden. It feels primal, instinctive, and he looks up at Merle, panicked. “I think—”

“Yup,” Merle says. “Lup, gimme a towel. Magnus, get the wood in between his teeth, make sure he doesn’t swallow it. Taako,” he says, and Taako forces himself to make eye contact with him, “you’ve got this.”

Taako nods, then opens his mouth, and Magnus puts the wood block between his teeth. Lup gives Merle the softest towel she could find, and Taako rocks forward on the next contraction, because he feels the need to bear down, to just force his kids the fuck out of himself. He grabs Kravitz’s hands in his and bears down and pushes as hard as he can. He can’t hear what anyone is saying, but it hurts so  _ fucking  _ bad and he’s biting hard enough to leave grooves in the wood in his mouth, and he’s squeezing Kravitz’s hands under his, and he can barely breathe—

And then he hears crying. He briefly thinks it’s himself, and then he looks at Merle, and Merle’s holding a  _ fucking baby.  _ Magnus reaches down and pulls the wood out of Taako’s mouth, and Taako can feel tears streaming down his face.

“What— Who,” Taako says, throat rasping. Merle pulls out his knife and cuts through the cord connecting the baby to Taako, then wraps the baby fully in the towel and hands them up to Magnus. Magnus looks down at the baby and laughs, wet; he’s already crying, too. He comes and sits next to Taako, tilts the baby to show him.

“Put the baby on his chest,” Merle instructs him. Kravitz reaches around and rips Taako’s shirt open with his hands; Magnus unwraps the baby and sticks them on Taako’s bare chest. Taako lets go of Kravitz to hold the baby in place, looking down at them. She’s got curly auburn hair all over her head, pointed little ears, and she’s light-tan, barely a hint of blue to her skin. She screams, and cries, and Taako presses his forehead to hers and cries with her.

“She looks just like you, Mags,” Barry comments, looking over Lup’s shoulder at them. Taako chokes on a half-sob.

“It’s stupid,” Taako says. “She looks so fucking much like you. My stupid half-elf baby.”

“Poetic,” Lup says. She kisses Taako on the top of his head, smoothes hair back from his face. “Good work, Koko. She’s great. Who’s this one?”

“Jules,” Taako tells her. Magnus starts crying harder. Taako feels overwhelmed; then, abruptly, he feels nothing but pain, and the same need to push again, and there’s a rush where Magnus scoops up Jules and Lup shoves the wood back into Taako’s mouth and Kravitz wraps his arms around him, letting him squeeze him as he screams around the wood. It takes longer, this time, and Taako’s sobbing by the time he manages it, but there’s a second baby who looks  _ exactly  _ like the first, a second girl, and Taako can’t stop crying when she’s put on his chest, too.

“Jesus fucking Christ almighty,” Taako hiccups, delirious, covered in sweat and blood and tears. “Magnus, what the fuck’s up with your genes?”

“I told you they were strong,” Magnus says. He’s still crying pretty steadily, too. Taako cranes his neck back to land his head on Kravitz’s shoulder, to see his face.

“That’s your baby,” Taako tells him. Kravitz has tears smeared on his face, but he keeps it together enough to kiss the side of Taako’s face, hard.

“Good work,” Kravitz whispers to him. Taako exhales sharply.

“Who’s this?” Barry asks. Taako watches Kravitz stroke one finger over the baby’s gross, bloody, little cheek.

“Blaine,” Taako says. “That’s— This is Blaine.”

“She’s awesome,” Lup tells him. “She’s a winner, I can tell.”

_ “Fuck,”  _ Taako says, and Lup scoops up the baby, and Barry shoves the wood back into Taako’s mouth, and Taako sobs, because he just wants it to  _ fucking end,  _ and he feels like his insides are coming out and he can’t stop crying and he can’t believe how insane this all is, and finally he feels  _ empty,  _ and  _ exhausted,  _ and there’s a third baby in Merle’s hands, and this one—

This one looks nothing like the other two.

“Huh,” Lup says, as Merle cleans the baby’s face. This baby has pointed ears, like his sisters, like his father, but his skin is much darker, a deep, warm brown, no hint of blue at all. He’s got black hair on his head, too, and Taako looks up at Kravitz.

“Good work, freaks, you double-did it,” Taako whispers, because his throat is so raw he can’t manage anything higher. Kravitz looks fucking shell-shocked, and Merle puts the baby on Taako’s chest, and Taako sobs again.

“God, he’s pretty,” Taako says, and Lup laughs, loudly.

“What’s his name?” Lup asks. Taako strokes his son’s head.

“Wyatt,” he tells her. He presses his forehead to Wyatt’s and lets himself cry. Kravitz’s hand comes up over his where it rests on Wyatt’s chest, and Taako can’t calm down long enough to say anything to him, but he’s sure he feels the same way. Magnus is beside them, still holding Jules, and Lup is bouncing Blaine back and forth while Barry watches her, looking stunned himself. He takes Wyatt when Merle helps Taako finish everything out, and when he stitches Taako up, and when he gives Taako a potion to drink. Taako chugs it, then holds his arms out.

“Give me my babies,” Taako demands, and Merle shoves a pillow under his arms to help him support their weight. Magnus slides Jules into the crook of his left arm, Lup slips Blaine into the bend of his right, and Barry tucks Wyatt in between his sisters. Kravitz pulls Taako’s hair back out of his face, and Taako just keeps crying, tears streaming steadily down his face.

“God,” Taako says.  _ “God.” _

“Yeah,” Magnus agrees. He puts an arm around Kravitz’s back, lining himself up along Taako’s side. Lup curls up on his other side, laying her head on Taako’s shoulder. She brushes tears away from Taako’s face.

“Wow,” Kravitz says. “I’m always— on the opposite end of this. This is… new.” He kisses the back of Taako’s head, then the side of it. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks,” Taako says. “It wasn’t easy, you know. You guys have monster kids.”

“You just got a small pelvis,” Merle says. Taako glares up at him, but there’s no heat to it. “Good work, kid. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, Merle,” Taako says. “For— all of it. Really.”

“No problem,” Merle says. “I’m gonna— go check on the kid.”

“Yeah, me too,” Barry says, and they slip out of the room, shutting the door behind them. The bed is a murder scene; there’s blood and guts everywhere, but Taako can’t summon the energy within himself to give a shit, in that moment. He just can’t look away from his kids.  _ His  _ kids.  _ His fucking babies,  _ on the  _ outside  _ of him, all pressed up in his arms, against his chest.

“I didn’t know this could happen,” Kravitz comments. Magnus exhales, laughing.

“Yeah, I didn’t know what to say,” Magnus says. “I didn’t know, either. Pretty fucking cool, though.”

“I hate you both,” Taako says. “You  _ both  _ did this to me.”

“Nice twin genes,” Lup comments. She points to Jules, then to Blaine. “Identical. I’m  _ so  _ proud.”

“Fuck, yeah,” Taako says. Wyatt blinks his eyes open, and nobody says anything for a long moment.

“Was anyone else expecting them to be red?” Magnus asks. Taako huffs a laugh.

“Yeah, I was,” Taako says, and Kravitz and Lup both agree.

“I’m glad they’re not,” Kravitz says, because they’re a pale blue-green instead, just like Lup’s, just like Taako’s. Jules yawns, stretching, and when she opens her eyes, they’re the same color, a pale blue-green. The four of them look to Blaine, and it takes a minute or two, but when she opens her unfocused eyes, they’re the same color.

“Look, they  _ are  _ my kids,” Taako said. “Wouldn’t be able to fucking tell otherwise,  _ Magnus.” _

“Hey, I  _ told  _ you Burnsides genes are strong,” Magnus reminds him. “You  _ knew  _ this about me.”

“It’s still your fault,” Taako says. “You, too,” he says to Kravitz.

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting this,” Kravitz says. “I didn’t know what to expect if they were mine.”

“They don’t look  _ anything  _ like me,” Taako says. He sighs. “I only carried them for a  _ year and a half _ and they don’t even  _ look _ like me. They don’t even look like  _ Lup.” _

“Oh,” Lup says. “Taako— I’m sorry, I didn’t— I know you’re still upset about,” she gestures to her own face, then to Taako’s. “They’re a good blend of the three of you. Look at their eyes, babe. Look at those fucking  _ ears.  _ That’s all you.”

Taako sniffs. Kravitz wipes at his eyes again.

“It’s terrifying how much those girls look like Magnus,” Taako comments.

“It’s like looking at myself, but with an elf face,” Magnus says. “And a vagina.”

“Classy,” Taako says. “Krav, you gave us good genes, thank you.”

“Hey, he looks like Kravitz!” Magnus exclaims. “Why’m  _ I  _ the only one getting yelled at?”

“Because I just had three babies and I can do anything I want,” Taako replies.

Magnus pauses, then says, “Yeah, okay, I’ll allow it.”

“You’re welcome,” Kravitz says to Taako. “You know, your eyes have never changed. Ever.”

“That’s true,” Magnus agrees. “Same eyes, ever since I met you.”

“Ever since we were born,” Lup tells them. “Same eyes, whole life.”

“And they have those eyes,” Kravitz points out. “That’s  _ you,  _ Taako.”

“That’s what I love most about you, anyways,” Magnus says.

“Same eyes,” Lup says again. Taako nods, trying to stop himself from crying again.

“Yeah,” he says.

“And at least they’re not skeletons,” Kravitz points out. Taako laughs tearfully.

“I won’t lie, I was a  _ little  _ nervous about that,” Magnus says. “Like, a  _ little  _ bit.”

“Samesies,” Lup agrees.

“Doesn’t matter,” Taako says. “They’re all here now.” He pauses for a beat. “But, Krav, if even  _ one  _ of them was a skeleton, I was gonna kill you so hard you’d have to reap yourself.”

Lup snorts on a laugh, and Taako relaxes a little, because everything feels less intense now, and the babies are all here, and they’re alive, and good, and it’s all gonna be  _ okay. _

Wyatt snuffles, then starts to cry. Magnus lifts up Jules and Kravitz lifts up Blaine and Taako shuffles Wyatt around to feed him. Lup kisses Taako’s forehead.

“I’ll let you guys take a sec,” she says. Taako reaches out and grabs her hand, and they squeeze each other’s hands at the same time. “Love you, Koko.”

“Love you, Lulu,” Taako replies. Lup squeezes his hand again, then lets him go, slipping out of the room and shutting the door behind her. Taako holds Wyatt close to his chest as the kid drinks from him, then looks up at Magnus. “Look, look what I’m doing. Party trick.”

“Don’t whip this out at parties, please,” Magnus laughs. Taako tips his head back to look at Kravitz.

“Ta-da,” Taako says. Kravitz presses their faces together.

“Good work,” Kravitz says. Magnus leans over and kisses Kravitz softly, for a long, long moment.

“Hey, I only shit out your kids half an hour ago, but, yeah, you’re right, now’s the time to ignore me,” Taako says. Kravitz puts one arm around Taako and holds him close, and Magnus slides tight along his side in the bed, keeping them close, too.

“Thanks,” Magnus says. “I never expected—  _ Ha,  _ I just, never thought—”

“Yeah,” Taako says. “Me, neither.”

“Me, neither,” Kravitz echoes. They’re silent for a long while, long enough for Magnus to help Taako switch out Wyatt with Jules so she can take her turn eating. Eventually, she’s switched for Blaine, and Taako sighs, watching his daughter —  _ his fucking daughter, fuck —  _ where she’s pressed against his chest.

“Thank you,” Taako says, softly. Kravitz holds him tight; Magnus scoots in closer, takes his hand. It’s  _ okay. _


	20. Month Twenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kravitz and Magnus have to go back to work. Taako does a great job alone all day.

“Are you  _ sure  _ you’re going to be okay?” Magnus asks. Taako’s sitting on the living room floor on the quilt Davenport gave them, with all three babies lined up on their backs in front of him. Blaine is dead asleep; she’s the calmest of the three of them, a mild little baby who puts up with pretty much everything. Magnus calls her his  _ little surfer dude,  _ because Magnus is her all-time favorite person, hands-down.

Jules is staring up at Kravitz as Kravitz is running his fingers through her hair. She’s relatively calm, too, unless she’s startled, at which point she becomes absolutely impossible. Kravitz really calms her down; she adores him. Wyatt, on the other hand, is staring right at Taako. Taako doesn’t have much experience with babies, but Wyatt is probably the fussiest baby in the  _ universe.  _ He’s pretty much constantly pissed and is so,  _ so  _ attached to Taako. He’s basically only happy when he’s with Taako; if they’re separated, he’s inconsolable. He’s startled easily, difficult to calm down, and won’t relax unless Taako is in his line of vision. Taako’s  _ his  _ favorite person; Taako tends to keep Wyatt in a sling across his chest whenever he does anything, just to keep the kid from crying.

“I’ll be fine,” Taako tells him, probably for the six thousandth time. It’s the first day that nobody can stay home with him and the babies, so it’s the first time Taako will actually be alone with all three of them. “You realize I took care of them all by myself for, like, eighteen goddamn months, right? We’ll make it for  _ one  _ day.”

“If you’re sure,” Kravitz says. Jules makes a happy sound up at Kravitz, and Kravitz coos back at her.

“Remember that Wyatt needs to be fed half an hour before Jules,” Magnus tells him. “And remember that Blaine likes the sock with the lamb on it if she’s feeling sad—”

“Hey, Mango,” Taako interrupts him. “I know these babies better than fucking  _ anybody  _ else, fuck you, they’re my best friends. Go to work.”

Magnus smiles at him, then bends down, kissing the top of Taako’s head. Kravitz does the same thing, then Lup crouches down and hugs Taako tightly.

“Have a good day, kiddos,” Lup says. “Auntie Lulu loves you, don’t do anything cool while I’m gone,  _ bye!” _

Kravitz rips a hole in the kitchen, and Lup goes through it. Barry hesitates, then waves.

“Good luck,” he says, then steps through. Kravitz comes and kisses Taako one last time, then Taako shoos him away, and Kravitz steps through the portal, and it vanishes, leaving Magnus and Angus in the living room with Taako.

“Angus is gonna be late to school if you don’t get going,” Taako points out. Angus checks his watch.

“He’s right, we have to go,” Angus says. He squats to hug Taako, then kisses each of the babies, who Taako keeps insisting on calling his brother and sisters. He’s content, now; he’s got two boys and two girls. Angus always blushes when he says it. “Have a good day, guys.”

“You, too, pumpkin,” Taako says. “Learn cool stuff. Remember who your real teacher is.”

“Sure,” Angus says. Magnus kisses Taako’s head again.

“You sure you’re okay?” Magnus asks. Taako waves him away.

“Go, I got this,  _ go,”  _ Taako insists. Magnus slips towards the door, Angus’ hand in his. He lingers in the doorway, then Angus tugs him through, and the front door shuts behind them. Taako looks down at his three kids.

“Looks like it’s just us now,” Taako says. Wyatt sniffles, and Taako shifts back into his line of sight, and the baby calms down. “What do you guys wanna do?”

Nobody answers. Taako lays down next to them and runs his hand over their tiny legs, propping up his head with his chin in his hand.

“Love you guys,” Taako says. Jules screams with delight, and Wyatt starts crying, startled by the sound. Taako sighs and sits up, lifting Wyatt up and pressing him to his chest, rocking him back and forth.

“You’re a troublemaker,” he says to Jules. Jules makes a happy sound back at him. Blaine just keeps sleeping, lightly snoring. Taako reaches down to Wyatt and strokes his fingertips up over the baby’s tiny, pointed little elf ears, and Wyatt soothes a bit, turning into the touch.

“See, I’m good at this,” Taako says. Jules coos again. Wyatt sighs. Taako smiles.

* * *

Taako feeds his children one by one, then lays down with them for a bit, then takes them into the living room and lays them on their stomachs. They all wriggle around a little; Wyatt’s the closest to actually moving anywhere, but none of them can coordinate their limbs enough to move. Then, he feeds them again, and they fall asleep one by one, and he lays in his bed with them all and stays awake the whole time, watching them sleep, too paranoid to meditate.

Wyatt wakes up first, and he’s  _ pissed,  _ so Taako moves everyone into the nursery and he sits in the rocking chair with Wyatt. Wyatt  _ loves  _ the smell of the lavender, and he’s always happy in the rocking chair with Taako. It’s probably a paradise on the fucking planet for him, Taako considers, watching his son stretch and turn his face into Taako’s chest and sigh.

Taako takes them all back out to the living room once everyone is calm, and realizes everyone’s going to be home soon. No major catastrophes, no disasters, nothing insane to speak of. Just Taako and his three kids. Taako knows he’s pretty fucking frazzled, that he looks kind of fucked up, but he’s also  _ done it _ and he’s kind of proud of himself.

“Hey,” Taako says, when he’s laid out on the sofa, all three of the babies lined up on his abdomen in various states of dozing. “We did pretty good today, kids. They didn’t even have to worry about us, we’re the fucking  _ bomb.” _

Wyatt shifts, and Taako shushes him, running a hand over his head, thumbing under his eye. Wyatt sighs.

“That’s right, bubbeleh,” Taako whispers. “We fucking  _ did it.  _ That’ll show ‘em. They’re worried about me, but I know you guys  _ best.  _ You’re my  _ babies,  _ like hell I don’t know what you need. I’ll take care of you  _ forever.” _

The babies don’t respond, because they’re babies, but Taako lets his hands rest over their backs, strokes up over their ears, whispers softly to them while nobody’s there to see him and/or judge him. It doesn’t take long after that before he hears the front door open, and he can’t lift his head very far, but he assumes that, if it’s the door, it’s Angus and Magnus.

Sure enough, Angus appears next to Taako on the sofa, backpack and shoes still on. “How was your day?”

“Pretty good, little man, how was yours?” Taako says. Angus sits down and starts telling him about the new magics he’d learned about that day, and Magnus manifests over the back of the sofa.

“Hey,” Magnus says. “You’re still alive. I thought Wyatt would’ve consumed all your lifeblood by now.”

“I’m the only one he fucking likes,” Taako says. “He knows better than biting the hand that feeds him.”

“If you say so,” Magnus says. He kisses Taako lightly. “How’d today go?”

“Fucking  _ phenomenal,”  _ Taako tells him. “We all did  _ amazing.” _

“Doesn’t surprise me in the least,” Magnus says. A rip opens up in the kitchen and Kravitz darts through it, appearing at Taako’s side in no time at all.

“How’d it go?” Kravitz asks. “Is everyone alright? Are you alright? How are you?”

“Please slow the fuck down,” Taako says. “Everyone’s good. We all survived. You have once again misplaced your worry because I am fucking  _ amazing  _ and they’re all doing  _ great.” _

“Didn’t expect anything else from you, Koko,” Lup says, ducking over the sofa to kiss each of the babies. Kravitz kisses Taako’s forehead.

“Good job,” Kravitz says. “Proud of you.”

“We did awesome,” Taako says again, looking down at his three babies. He’s  _ proud,  _ for once, genuinely  _ proud,  _ and there’s also no  _ fucking  _ way he’s letting anyone leave him alone for that long again anytime soon.


	21. Month Twenty-Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucretia holds a baby. Taako celebrates Candlenights. Magnus and Kravitz have a heart-to-heart.

Taako hears, through his meditation, a floorboard creak, and he opens one eye to see Angus crouching down in front of him.

“Happy Candlenights,” Angus whispers. Taako jumps nearly out of his skin.

“Jeezy creezy, Ango, warn a guy next time,” Taako exclaims, clutching his hand to his chest. “Happy Candlenights, kiddo. Is anyone here yet?”

“Carey and Killian just got here first,” Angus tells him. He offers Taako a hand and helps him to his feet, out of his little meditation nest of pillows and blankets.

“Fashionably early,” Taako comments, straightening out his skirt, smoothing out the wrinkles.

“Carey needed help finishing one of her gifts, I think,” Angus tells him. “She asked Magnus for help and he went to help right away and that’s what they’re doing.”

“Thanks, little man,” Taako replies. He looks Angus over; he wasn’t always big on the matchy-matchy thing, but he’d gotten the same material and design for Angus’ sweater that he had for the kids, and he’d made them all himself. Angus and Wyatt had sweaters of the soft red material; Blaine and Jules had skirts made of it. Taako tries not to be a sentimental man, but it’s _Candlenights,_ for Christ’s sake, he deserves a break. “Looking good, Ango.”

“Thanks, sir,” Angus says. “The sweater fits great, sir, thank you.”

“No prob,” Taako says, ruffling the kid’s hair. Angus straightens his glasses and leads Taako back out into the living room where, sure enough, Carey and Killian have already arrived. Taako hasn’t cast Disguise Self, and decides, in that moment, not to; the last time he had done it and Wyatt saw, the kid cried for an hour. He makes sure his hair is still bound up, then follows Angus all the way into the living room.

“What’s cracking in here?” Taako asks. Killian gets up off the sofa to hug him; someone’s already handed her Blaine, probably Magnus. Blaine shrieks with delight when she sees Taako.

“Good to see you, man,” Killian says. Carey offers a wave from the corner where she and Magnus are working on carving something.

“Hi, Taako,” Carey calls. Magnus looks up briefly.

“You look great, dude,” Magnus comments, already looking back down at the carving in his hands. Taako waves a dismissive hand at him. Magnus is wearing a sweater just like Angus and Wyatt. Taako’s kind of a _little bit_ a sucker for the matchy-matchy at the holidays. Speaking of—

“Where’s Krav?” Taako asks. Kravitz sticks his head out from the door joining the living room to Barry and Lup’s rooms.

“Here,” Kravitz says. He’s got Jules all but attached to his front; she’s got his fingers in her mouth. They realized pretty early on into the whole teething thing that Kravitz’s cold hands were good enough for them, so he’s been like a walking ice pack for the past two months. Right now, he’s a walking ice pack in his _matching sweater._ Taako’s pleased with himself.

“Where the hell’s my son?” Taako asks. Lup sits up from the floor.

“Here,” Lup says. She’s got Wyatt’s hands in hers and she’s holding him up so he’s standing on wobbly legs, but as soon as he sees Taako, he shrieks and lets go. Taako swoops down and catches him, tossing him into the air.

“What up, dingus, you look fly,” Taako says. Wyatt knocks their heads together. “Careful, kemosabe, only got one of those.”

“Heyo,” Merle says, walking in their front door without knocking. Mavis and Mookie stick their heads in behind him. Merle’s got a wagon full of potted plants.

“What up, fernfucker,” Taako calls. Mavis and Mookie are more than used to him by now, and they don’t even bat an eye. Merle flips him off.

“Brought plants!” Merle announces. “One for everybody!”

“Presents are going to be later, Merle, sir,” Angus tells him. Merle hands him the handle on the wagon and heads for the kitchen. Angus looks up at Taako helplessly.

“Just drag it over to the Candlenights bush, pumpkin,” Taako tells him, and Angus does. Once Merle arrives, it seems like a never-fucking-ending stream of people come into his house. Lucretia, and Davenport, and Ren, and Avi, and Barry (who apparently left to get more wine, Taako hadn’t even noticed), and eventually Taako stops keeping track and just makes sure nobody’s crying at any given point, including himself.

Lucretia’s come to visit a couple of times since the kids were born, and she and Taako are slowly trying to work things out. Nothing major yet, but every time she leaves, Magnus tells him how _excited_ he is, and how _proud_ he is, so Taako figures things are going well. Now, though, she comes over and looks at Taako, then smiles at Wyatt.

“Hi,” she says. She hesitates. “He looks like you.”

“He sure fucking doesn’t,” Taako replies. “He looks like Krav, nice try.”

“If I said it about the other two, you’d know I was lying,” Lucretia says. Taako _almost_ smiles. _Almost._

“Yeah, they look a lot like Maggie,” Taako comments.

“Never thought I’d see the day,” Lucretia says. They’re quiet for a bit. Lucretia motions to Wyatt. “May I…?”

“Hell, no,” Taako says. Lucretia looks crestfallen. “Oh, no, just not with him, he’ll scream if he’s not with me. Hey, Krav!”

Krav ghosts over to Taako’s side, looking pleased that he’s no longer in conversation with Mookie. “What’s wrong?”

“Jeezy creezy, you’re always asking what’s wrong, sometimes I just wanna say hi,” Taako says. He motions to Lucretia. “She wants to hold one of them. She asked for Wyatt—”

“Oh, hell, no,” Kravitz says. He hands Jules over to Lucretia. “The longer we can keep Wyatt with Taako and not screaming his head off, the better.”

“Okay,” Lucretia says. She holds Jules at an arm’s length, hands under the baby’s armpits. Taako watches her, baffled.

“What’re you doing?” he asks, after a long moment. Jules just keeps dangling there, apparently not bothered.

“I’m, uhh— I’m holding the baby,” Lucretia says. Taako snorts.

“What the fuck— I thought you were the smart one,” Taako says. “Do you see what I’m doing, right now? Do you see how I’m holding this baby? Do that.”

“I—”

“Hey, Davenport,” Taako calls. “Look at how Lucretia’s holding the baby!”

“Goddamn you, Taako,” Lucretia hisses. Davenport is already laughing at her. Magnus comes over and claps a hand on Lucretia’s shoulder.

“You’ll get the hang of it,” Magnus says. Lucretia just keeps staring at Jules like she’s a fantasy bomb. “Seriously, though, stop holding my kid like that, you’re gonna drop her—”

Magnus rearranges Lucretia’s grip so she’s got Jules all up against her side instead, and Jules looks much more pleased with the arrangement, pulling on one of the zippers of Lucretia’s jacket and stuffing the tassel end of it into her mouth.

“She’s cute,” Lucretia says. Magnus beams at her.

“Hell yeah, she is,” Taako says. “You seen my kids? _Best_ fucking kids.”

Lup asks for help then in the kitchen, and Taako straps Wyatt to his back and follows her, setting Angus and Kravitz to work, as well. The night is chaotic; there’s people everywhere, all over the place, talking constantly over the low music Kravitz put on the fantasy record player. Taako and Lup make more food than they have for the last, like, three parties combined, and Kravitz tries and fails to organize the gift-giving into something more coherent than people flinging boxes at each other.

Taako feels frazzled, and by the end of the night, he’s happy but completely fried. This had been exactly what he had wanted it to be — everything he had pictured in his head came true. It was a really picturesque night, and everyone enjoyed themselves, and everyone drank too much, and some people are crashing at their place. Magnus hefts up Angus where he’s fallen asleep on the floor and takes him to his room. Ren helps Taako get the three kids back to their nursery and into their cribs.

“Good on you, boss,” Ren says. “I had a great night.”

“Feel free to sleep in the living room, everyone else is,” Taako says. Ren claps him on the shoulder.

“You know I’m gonna,” she says, and leaves the room. Taako looks at the three cribs, at the three babies sleeping inside them, and he sits down on the floor, back against the wall, watching them. He just stares at them as they sleep; Wyatt sleeps pretty light, but even he’s completely out, one hand shoved into his mouth as he sleeps. Blaine’s sleeping like a log, totally passed out; Taako knows she won’t wake up until morning. Jules keeps shifting, but otherwise stays asleep. Taako just watches them in the darkness, letting his elf eyes do the work humans need lights to do.

Eventually, the door cracks open, and Kravitz appears in the sliver of light that illuminates the doorway. He sees the cribs first, then looks down and sees Taako. He doesn’t say anything, instead just shutting the door softly behind him and sitting next to Taako on the floor. Taako rests his head on Kravitz’s shoulder and keeps watching the kids sleep. Magnus sticks his head in only a couple minutes later.

“What’s up?” he whispers. Taako looks up at him.

“I just needed a second,” Taako replies. Magnus slips in and shuts the door quietly. “After… the whole night, I guess. Just needed to chill out. Remind myself it’s… they’re doing okay, and all that stupid junk.”

“Not stupid junk,” Magnus protests, out of instinct at this point. He sits on Taako’s other side and, after a moment, takes his hand. He doesn’t say anything more, just sits with the two of them in the quiet like Kravitz had. Taako finds himself dozing off, after a little bit, accidentally slipping into a meditative cycle, and he lets himself drift, head on Kravitz’s shoulder.

“Hey,” Magnus says. “He fell asleep.”

“Good,” Kravitz replies. There’s a beat of silence. Taako’s only half-listening. “It was a nice party.”

“Yeah, he and Lup are good at that stuff,” Magnus says. “They used to throw bomb parties on the _Starblaster.”_

“Yeah?” Kravitz says.

“Yeah,” Magnus replies. “Different vibe, though.”

“I can imagine,” Kravitz says. “Do you ever miss it?”

“The _Starblaster?”_ Magnus asks. Kravitz must nod, because Magnus says, “Huh. I’ve never actually thought about if I _miss_ it. I guess— No, I guess. We all made it out and we don’t have to do the fucking cycles anymore. I miss the, like— adventures, and stuff, I guess, but I’m pretty happy here. _This_ is what I wanted to be doing the whole time I was doing _that.”_

“Interesting,” Kravitz says, in that way he has of saying things. “What did you picture your life would be like? While you were on the _Starblaster?”_

Kravitz has a way of cutting through conversations to the meat of them, without any of the surrounding padding. Taako finds it helps he, himself, focus on his conversations with Kravitz, since he has a terrible time of that usually, but he didn’t know Kravitz was the same way with Magnus, too.

“I had no idea,” Magnus says. “Really. I thought we were gonna die at the end. I was pretty much sure we were gonna die when it was done. But when I—” He stops, probably thinking. Taako keeps listening. “When I thought about what I’d want, it was pretty much this. He was always there. I couldn’t imagine my life without him. I thought we’d get dogs, and I’d build him a house, and we’d just fuck around until we died.”

“That sounds nice,” Kravitz says.

“Yeah, it kept me going,” Magnus tells him. “Especially when he’d die. Those were the fucking _worst_ cycles, I can’t even tell you. I was always so… nervous, that that would be the last one and he’d be gone forever and I’d be fucked. So, I’m glad we both made it.”

“Yeah,” Kravitz says. They’re quiet again.

“I’m glad he found you,” Magnus says, after a long pause.

“Me, too,” Kravitz says. “I love him more than… anything. Really.”

“I can tell,” Magnus says. They’re quiet. They don’t say anything more, and Taako’s chest feels like it’s filled with helium, and he keeps his eyes shut. Eventually, Kravitz gently lifts his head.

“Hey,” Kravitz says. “Let’s go sleep, hm?”

“I don’t sleep,” Taako tells him, still blearily tired.

“Sure, you don’t,” Magnus says, scooping Taako off the ground and slinging him over his shoulder. Taako doesn’t even bother protesting; he just holds on and lets himself get hauled off to their bedroom.


	22. Month Thirty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids have their first birthday. Magnus and Kravitz flip a coin.

The kids’ first birthday falls on a Tuesday, so they decide to just have a family dinner and to have the party the next weekend instead, for everyone else. Taako and Lup make tiny pasta with tiny veggies, which is most of what the triplets eat, and everyone gives them gifts and watches them rip wrapping paper with no understanding of the gifts inside. Taako sits on the floor and shoves them into the sweaters Barry made for them and lets them climb all over him.

“This is pretty much an accurate culmination of the year,” Taako comments, as Wyatt grabs his braid and yanks. Taako flips the kid onto his back, and Wyatt screams with laughter, grabbing for Taako’s wrist. Lup sits next to him and lets Jules scale her back.

“Remember when we talked about this when we were kids?” Lup asks. Blaine reaches for Magnus, and Magnus dives in, scooping her up and tossing her into the air.

“I don’t remember Death being there,” Taako comments. Kravitz sticks his tongue out at him. “Well, I’m  _ glad  _ he is, I’m just saying nobody  _ expects  _ that.”

“No shit,” Lup says. Kravitz rolls his eyes and returns to his conversation with Barry. Angus comes over and sits in front of Taako, and Jules abandons Lup instantly to head for him instead. The three kids had, at some point, realized Angus was their older brother, and Angus got so emotional about it, and now they’re all best friends. They love Angus to  _ pieces.  _ It makes Taako’s heart clench up, even if he’d never say it.

“Hey, it’s bedtime,” Magnus says, tucking Blaine under one arm. She looks exhausted, and Taako hadn’t realized where the time went. He gets up and lifts Wyatt up, pressing their faces together, smiling at him.

“You ready for bed, bubbeleh?” Taako asks. Wyatt sighs. “Yeah, I thought so.” When he looks up, Magnus is looking at him, face flushed. Taako raises an eyebrow, then glances to Kravitz, but he’s looking down at his hands.  _ Ahh. _

“Well, bedtime,” Magnus announces again, louder this time. Angus picks up Jules and follows them to the nursery. The three kids are asleep pretty quick, and Taako crouches down to Angus’ level, which isn’t all that far, anymore.

“Pumpkin, there are ghosts in this house,” Taako tells him.

“It’s, like, two years old,” Angus argues, but Taako shakes his head.

“There are ghosts,” Taako says. “And I’ll protect you. But if you hear anything, just know, that’s a ghost, and ignore it.”

“You’re insane,” Lup comments. Taako turns to her.

“Same goes for you,” Taako says. “Go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You’re absolutely insane,” Lup repeats, but she ushers Barry away. Angus brushes his teeth and hugs them all goodnight and heads for his room. Taako rounds on Magnus and Kravitz, who both look relatively sheepish.

“Now,” Taako says. “Who got horny during our children’s first birthday party?”

“Me,” Magnus admits, immediately. Kravitz raises a hand.

“You putting your hand up? What, are we in school? Let’s go,” Taako says, and they retreat into their bedroom. They haven’t had many chances to do this since the babies were born, but that means they make the most of it when they do get a chance. “What do you want to do today?”

Magnus looks to Kravitz like he has an idea, so Kravitz motions him forward. Magnus rubs at the back of his neck, then looks at Taako.

“Get on the bed,” Magnus says. Taako raises an eyebrow, then does as he’s asked. “Remember your word?”

“Yup,” Taako says, because it’s still  _ ‘sauté’,  _ has been for over a hundred years. Magnus climbs over him, then buries his face in the back of Taako’s neck.

“You know I fucking love how you are with them,” Magnus says to him. “You’re such a tease.”

“Yeah, me being a good dad is me being a cocktease, you caught me,” Taako says. Kravitz leans down and appears in Taako’s line of sight.

“I didn’t know he said you could talk,” Kravitz says. Taako shuts his mouth, then smiles. Kravitz strokes his hair back from his face. “Better.”

“I love watching you with them,” Magnus says, before he flips Taako onto his back and bites at his chest. Taako arches up into him. “I would give you a dozen babies if I could. A hundred. Just to see you do this forever.”

“Mm,” Taako says, because he’s not  _ allowed  _ to speak. Kravitz sits next to his head on the bed, just stroking his hair away from his face, scratching cold fingers over his scalp over and over. Magnus holds Taako’s waist in his big hands, fingers spanning the breadth of him, and he kisses down, until he’s at his navel. Then, he stops, leaning his face into Taako’s abdomen. He sits up abruptly after a moment and starts undressing. Kravitz looks just as startled as Taako feels.

“I thought we had the safe word up?” Taako says. Magnus stops.

“Did you need it?” Magnus asks.

“No, I— It doesn’t seem like it’s that intense,” Taako tells him. Magnus looks to Kravitz.

“Oh,” Magnus says. “Sorry, I just— I’ve missed you like this, I wasn’t thinking—”

“No, no,” Taako says, because just the concept that Magnus couldn’t contain himself long enough to actually do whatever he’d been planning, just because he missed having  _ Taako  _ like this, is hotter than what he’d been doing before. Kravitz gets up, lets Taako get up and helps him out of his clothes, pins him back to the bed.

“What do you want?” Kravitz asks, because Kravitz is a giver.

“You should both fuck me,” Taako says, because Taako is a taker. Kravitz grins and turns back to Magnus.

“Flip you for first,” Kravitz says. Magnus hesitates.

“Arm wrestle?” Magnus suggests. Kravitz raises an eyebrow, and Magnus sighs. “Fine.” He reaches down into his pants and digs out of a coin, which he hands to Taako.

“Call it,” Taako says, and flips the coin. Magnus calls for heads, and it’s tails, and Kravitz is crawling over him before he can even put the coin aside. Magnus takes the coin from Taako’s hand and goes to the side of the bed, watches as Kravitz gets a hand in between himself and Taako, as he feels for Taako’s folds.

“Gods— You’re wet already,” Kravitz says, and Taako nods. Magnus reaches out and takes Taako’s hair out of its bindings, letting it pool around his head on the pillow in ringlets, a soft silvery-blonde halo. Taako takes advantage of it, tangling his fingers in his own hair and pulling when Kravitz ducks his head down and gets his mouth on him. Magnus keeps stroking Taako’s head, watching the two of them as Kravitz moves. Taako groans, and Magnus covers Taako’s mouth with one huge hand.

“Ango,” Magnus says, a warning. Taako huffs a laugh against Magnus’ palm, but it quickly becomes a moan, because Kravitz is circling his clit with his tongue. He lifts his head and uses his hand instead, cold hand rapidly warming as his thumb rubs his clit. Taako fists his hands in the mattress as Kravitz presses his forehead to his chest and keeps working.

“Hey, bud, buddy, I’m—” Taako says, then chokes on a moan, and Kravitz removes his hand. “What the  _ fuck—” _

“Hold on,” Kravitz says, and he lines himself up, and he pushes in, inch by inch, and Taako bites down into Magnus’ palm. Magnus presses their foreheads together.

“Tell me how it feels,” Magnus says, lifting his hand.

“Fucking phenomenal, homie, do you not hear what I’m—  _ Ahh,”  _ he cuts off, as Kravitz pushes the rest of the way in in a sharp thrust. Kravitz bows over him, brings Taako’s legs up over his shoulders, then starts to move.

“I love you,” Kravitz tells him, and Taako laughs. “What? I do.”

“It’s just such a  _ you  _ thing to say right now,” Taako says, and Kravitz finds his pace, pounding into Taako hard enough to move him up into the pillows against the headboard. Taako can hear skin-on-skin that isn’t coming from him, and he turns to see Magnus has a hand on himself. “Hey, buddy, what’re you—”

“You look so fucking good like this,” Magnus says—  _ moans,  _ really, and Taako huffs, and Kravitz takes his words from him when he gets a hand down between them and puts his thumb back over Taako’s clit. It’s been a while for Taako, too, so watching the two of them combined with the pressure is enough to knock him over the edge, a burning that starts deep in his center and spreads out through all his limbs. He sighs, a reedy, high sound, and Kravitz shoves into him and groans, pressing their foreheads together as he releases inside of him. Magnus is already sitting up.

“Oh, god,” Taako says, as Kravitz slides out and Magnus switches places with him.

“Are you good?” Magnus asks. Taako nods, breathless, and Magnus pushes into him. “God, that was hot. I don’t think the two of you know what you look like. It’s like watching the two hottest people who ever existed fuck. It’s incredible.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Kravitz murmurs from his place beside Taako. He’s stroking the side of Taako’s face, watching his expressions as Magnus brings him right back up to the edge. Magnus, apparently, wasn’t lying about how hot it was watching them, because he’s pounding into him pretty consistently, roughly, hands gripping bruises into Taako’s hips. Taako comes untouched this time, just from the friction of Magnus’ thrusts and the points of pain on his hips where Magnus’ hands are, and Magnus buries himself deep inside, filling him just like Kravitz had. He takes his time catching his breath, knowing no one is waiting for him, then he slides out. Taako waves a hand and cleans them with magic.

“Thank god I’m a good dad,” Taako says. Magnus laughs, loud and happy, and Kravitz pulls Taako over his chest to lay there. Taako turns his face into Kravitz’s throat and sighs. Magnus rubs his back.

“I mean it,” Magnus says. “When I say— When I said— We could have more. If you wanted.”

Taako lifts his head to look at Magnus, incredulous. He can see Kravitz is doing the same. “We have  _ four,  _ Mango.”

“We could have more,” Magnus suggests. “What? No?”

“Maybe,” Taako says.

“Maybe?” Kravitz echoes. Taako shrugs, settling back down.

“It’s not his worst idea,” Taako tells him. “We’ll see.”

“Cool,” Magnus says. Kravitz sighs, but it’s happy, Taako can tell. He tangles their fingers together, and Magnus presses up against him from behind, burying his face in the back of Taako’s neck, deep in his curtain of hair.


	23. Epilogue: Month Thirty-One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merle comes over for dinner. Taako tries to make an announcement. Life is chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's the last chapter! I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I have. I may make this into a series with other pieces, so if that interests you, let me know!

Merle’s come over to visit for dinner after Taako had spent three days trying to call him to extend the invitation. He’d come over that afternoon, he and Taako had worked in the garden for a bit, and now they’re all sitting down to eat. Magnus and Angus are manhandling the kids into their highchairs while Lup serves food onto plates for everyone, and Taako stands up, clears his throat.

“You’re probably wondering why I’ve gathered you all here,” Taako says. Barry glances at the food, then back up at Taako.

“What, dinner?” Barry asks. “We eat this every day.”

“No— I mean,  _ special  _ dinner,” Taako clarifies. Lup frowns.

“It’s not really special,” Lup says. “Just garden veggies, there’s a little meat—”

“Oh, I got that from the market,” Magnus tells her. “It’s a pretty good cut, actually.”

“Isn’t Taako a vegetarian?” Angus asks. Lup waves him off.

“He just picks it out,” Lup tells him. Angus looks up to Taako, but doesn’t talk fast enough.

“Why would you be a vegetarian?” Merle pipes up. “Meat’s awesome. Tastes great. A nice charbroil on there—”

“You like them well done, that’s not  _ real  _ meat,” Barry says.

“He’s right,” Magnus says. “There’s no flavor there. Krav cooks them  _ great.” _

“Medium rare,” Kravitz tells them.

“It’s a great sear,” Magnus says.

“Did you grow these carrots, Taako?” Barry asks. “They’re good.”

“Really good,” Kravitz agrees. Taako feels like he’s lost his mind.

“I was thinking we should—” Magnus starts saying, when Taako throws his hands up in the air.

“I’m pregnant,” Taako announces. The room goes silent, everyone freezing mid-action to look up at him. Kravitz is the first to move when he buries his face in his hands. Magnus laughs, a great, big sound from deep inside of him.

“No shit,” Magnus exclaims. “No  _ shit!  _ You’re so fertile, that’s impressive.” Magnus gets up and scoops Taako up, lifting him off the floor and spinning him around. Taako laughs.

“Please stop fucking in our house,” Lup says, but she’s also standing and running to hug Taako. Taako hugs her back, and feels a cold hand on his back, and turns in to hug Kravitz, too. Angus wraps his arms around Taako’s waist, and Wyatt screams once Taako is out of view, and Taako keeps laughing, tearful, finally,  _ finally  _ happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it was! I hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> I also actually wrote two books! It was a long road but, I did it! Ta-da! If you want to read either of them, shoot me a message!
> 
> I have a blog now to request imagines - I just like to make people happy. Submit requests [here!](https://imagine-in-the-fandoms.tumblr.com/ask)
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter at [@nicolelianesolo](https://twitter.com/nicoIodeon) or on Tumblr at [andillwriteyouatragedy](http://andillwriteyouatragedy.tumblr.com/).


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